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Corn Chowder

A hearty soup made with salt pork, onion, potatoes, corn, milk, crackers, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Corn Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. In a soup kettle, fry the salt pork and sliced onion until lightly browned.

  2. Add 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil.

  3. Stir in the sliced potatoes and the contents of the can of corn.

  4. Boil for 25 to 30 minutes.

Finish and serve

  1. Add 1 pint of rich milk and the split crackers, then do not allow to boil.

  2. Season with salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce to taste.

  3. Add a piece of butter the size of a small egg 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. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + corntop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together938 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

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

  5. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 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

Potatoes
Break down partly as they cook, thickening the chowder and giving it body.
Rich milk
Adds fat and creaminess, giving the chowder a smooth, rich texture.
Boston hard crackers
Soak up liquid and thicken the broth, adding body to the chowder.
Salt pork
Renders fat and savory flavor as it browns, seasoning the base of the chowder.
Corn
Adds sweetness and its own starch, contributing flavor and body.

The step that matters

Do not let the milk boil. Once milk boils it can curdle and separate, and the cream-like texture breaks. Adding milk near the end and keeping the soup just below a boil keeps it smooth.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, potato, corn, milk, pepper, sauce, butter):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, potato, corn, milk, pepper, sauce, 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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