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Philadelphia Clam Soup

A creamy soup of clams, potatoes, milk, butter, flour, parsley, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Philadelphia Clam Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Drain the chopped clams in a colander.

  2. Rub the butter and flour together until creamy.

Make the soup

  1. Boil the chopped potatoes in the milk in a double boiler.

  2. After boiling for 15 minutes, stir in the butter and flour mixture and cook for 8 more minutes.

  3. Add the parsley, salt, and pepper, and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

  4. Finally, add the clams and cook for 1 more minute before serving.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Parsley + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

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

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

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

  5. Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

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 flavour and a tender texture once briefly cooked.
Milk
Forms the creamy liquid base of the soup and adds richness.
Potatoes
Soften as they cook, thickening the soup and adding body.
Flour
Thickens the milk, giving the soup a smooth, body-rich consistency.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, and combines with flour to help thicken the soup.

The step that matters

Stirring in the butter and flour mixture. Flour must be fully blended into the hot milk and cooked for several minutes; otherwise it can clump and leave a raw, pasty taste and a grainy texture.

“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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