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Clam Chowder

A layered soup made with pork fat, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, clams, crackers, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion 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 ↓

Clam Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

Layer the pot

  1. Line the bottom of a pot with small slices of fat salt pork.

  2. Add a layer of potatoes, followed by a layer of chopped onions.

  3. Next, add a layer of sliced or canned tomatoes.

  4. Then, add a layer of clams, either whole or chopped.

  5. Top with a layer of crackers and season with salt, pepper, and other spices if desired.

  6. Repeat the layering process until the pot is full, seasoning each layer.

Cook and serve

  1. Cover the layers with water and set on low heat.

  2. When nearly done, stir gently, finish cooking, and serve.

  3. If the chowder is too thin, boil a little longer; if too thick, add a little water, bring to a boil, and serve.

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Potato + tomatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  4. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  5. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 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

Fat salt pork
Renders fat into the pot, adding savory flavor to the chowder base.
Potatoes
Soften during cooking and give the chowder body and thickness.
Clams
Provide the main seafood flavor and tender texture in the chowder.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and brightness that balance the rich pork and clam flavors.
Crackers
Absorb liquid and help thicken the chowder as they soften.

The step that matters

Covering the layers with water and cooking on low heat. Gentle heat lets the potatoes cook through and clams stay tender. Boiling hard can toughen clams and break down the layers unevenly, so keep the heat low.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, potato, onion, clam, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatothe original
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Chivefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, potato, onion, clam, 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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