Why it works: Pork and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,668 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Fish Chowder
Ingredients
Directions
Fry pieces of salt pork in a kettle until crisp.
Layer sliced potatoes over the pork, then add a layer of leftover fish.
Season each layer with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Add crackers between layers if desired.
Pour in 2 cups of water and cover the kettle.
Stew until the potatoes are tender.
Before serving, stir in ¼ cup of cream and 2 tablespoons of flour to thicken.
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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Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + fishtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together668 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Potato + fishtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together134 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,355 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salt pork
- Renders fat and adds savory flavor to the base of the chowder.
- Sliced potatoes
- Soften during stewing and give the chowder body and starch.
- Leftover fish
- Provides the main flavor and tender flaked texture.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, creamy mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Thickens the liquid as it is stirred in, giving the chowder body.
The step that matters
Stirring in the flour and cream before serving. Flour thickens best when it is mixed well into the liquid so it does not clump. Cream should be stirred in gently and kept below a hard boil so it does not separate or curdle, keeping the chowder smooth.
“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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