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Clam Chowder

A baked casserole of clams, bread crumbs, butter, milk, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Clam Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Butter a deep tin basin.

Assemble

  1. Layer grated bread crumbs or cracker crumbs in the basin.

  2. Sprinkle with pepper and bits of butter.

  3. Add a double layer of clams, seasoning with pepper and butter.

  4. Repeat with another layer of crumbs and clams.

  5. Finish with a layer of bread crumbs or soaked cracker.

  6. Pour in 1 cup of milk or water.

  7. Cover with a plate and bake for 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Butter + clamtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together840 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Pepper + biscuittop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together841 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Clams
Provide the main seafood flavor and substance of the chowder.
Bread crumbs or cracker crumbs
Form the layers that soak up liquid and give the dish body.
Butter
Adds richness and fat that carries flavor through the layers.
Milk or water
Supplies the moisture that steams and softens the layers during baking.
Soda biscuit
Adds starchy bulk and absorbs liquid to thicken the layers.

The step that matters

Covering the basin before baking. The covered plate traps steam so the crumbs and clams cook through in moist heat. Without it, the top can dry out and the clams can turn tough from direct heat.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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