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Clam Bo of

A clam broth made with clams, milk, water, crackers, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Clam Bo of

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the clams

  1. Remove clams from their shells, preserving the liquor.

  2. Strain the liquor and add 1 quart of milk and 1 quart of water.

  3. If using large clams, cut each in half and add to the pot.

Cook the broth

  1. Heat over moderate fire until clams are tender, about 1 hour.

  2. Skim the surface to remove impurities.

  3. Add the broken crackers or rolled fine crackers and cover the pot for 10 minutes.

  4. Stir in ¼ pound of sweet butter and serve hot.

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Clam + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together840 recipes

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

  3. Clam + milktop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together636 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

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 tender meat that sets the character of the broth.
Milk
Adds richness and a creamy body to the broth.
Soda crackers
Thicken the broth as they soften and absorb liquid.
Sweet butter
Adds fat for a smooth, rounded mouthfeel and flavor.

The step that matters

Skimming the surface. Skimming removes foam and impurities that would otherwise cloud the broth and muddy its flavor, giving a clearer, cleaner result.

“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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