Why it works: Milk and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,759 recipes. Both carry 1-hexanal, which smells fruit. The science ↓
Clam Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the clams
Clean the clams and dry them in a napkin.
If using large clams, cut them in half.
Make the batter
Combine the flour, beaten eggs, milk, and clam liquor in a bowl.
Beat the mixture until smooth.
Stir in the clams.
Fry
Heat lard or beef drippings in a frying pan until boiling.
Drop spoonfuls of the clam batter into the hot fat and fry until brown on one side.
Turn and fry the other side.
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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Milk + beeftop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,759 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Clam + milktop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together636 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help the fritters set and hold their shape when fried.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the batter together around the clams.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the batter.
- Clams
- Provide the main flavor and texture within the fritters.
The step that matters
Drop spoonfuls of batter into hot fat. The fat must be hot enough to set the outside of each fritter quickly. If the fat is cool, the batter soaks up oil and becomes greasy rather than crisp and browned.
“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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