Why it works: Clam and scallop share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 5 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
In a chafing dish, combine the cleaned clams and scallops.
Pour in the white wine and season with pepper and salt.
Make and add the roux
In a small pan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour to create a roux.
Add the roux to the chafing dish to thicken the mixture.
Cook
Simmer for 12 minutes until the clams and scallops are cooked through.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Clam + scalloptop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
-
White wine + buttertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,039 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Clam + buttertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together840 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + flourtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together122,858 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Clam + white winetop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together74 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 122,858 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce with fat and adds a rich flavor as it melts.
- Flour
- Forms a roux with the butter that thickens the cooking liquid into a sauce.
- White wine
- Adds acidity and aromatic flavor to the cooking liquid.
- Scallops
- Provide sweet, tender seafood that cooks quickly in the simmering liquid.
The step that matters
Simmer for 12 minutes until cooked through. Clams and scallops turn tough and rubbery when overcooked, so they should be checked as they near doneness and removed once they just turn opaque and the clams open.
“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.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.