Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Clam Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the clams
Stew the clams in their own liquor for 15 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Drain the clams and chop them finely, removing all hard portions.
Make and cook the fritters
In a bowl, mix the eggs, flour, and milk until smooth.
Combine the chopped clams with the batter.
Optionally, add parsley to the batter for extra flavor.
Heat butter in a frying pan and cook the fritters until golden brown.
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.
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Clam + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together840 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Clams
- Provide the main flavor and texture of the fritter, since they are the filling of the batter.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help it set firmly when cooked.
- Flour
- Thickens the batter and gives the fritters their body and structure.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter to a smooth consistency.
The step that matters
Cook the fritters until golden brown. The batter needs enough heat to set the eggs and flour through, and the surface needs to brown for flavor. Too little heat leaves the centre raw and greasy; too much burns the outside before the inside cooks.
Swap the parsley
The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, pepper, egg, flour, milk, butter):
- Parsleythe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Cinnamonfits less well
- Thymefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against clam, pepper, egg, flour, milk, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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