Why it works: Clam and pork work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 305 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Clam Chowder
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the bacon or pork into small pieces and fry in a stewpan for 1-2 minutes.
Add the sliced onions and the liquor from the clams, along with ½ pint of milk.
Once the pork and onions are cooked, add the remaining pint of milk, season with pepper and salt, and stir in the clams.
Bring to a boil, but do not let it boil over, as this will harden the clams.
Cook for about 15 minutes and serve hot.
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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Clam + porktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together305 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,386 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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 tender texture when gently heated.
- Salt pork or bacon
- Adds fat and savory flavor as it renders into the pan.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and aroma as they soften during cooking.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy liquid base that gives the chowder its body.
The step that matters
Bring to a boil without letting it boil over. Vigorous boiling toughens clam meat, as the record notes it will harden the clams. Keeping the heat controlled preserves a tender texture.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, pork, milk, pepper):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against clam, pork, milk, pepper. 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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