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 ↓
Fish Chowder
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Flour the fish pieces lightly.
In a pot, fry the salt pork until browned, then remove it.
Fry the chopped onion in the same pot until done, then remove it.
Layer and simmer
Layer the fish, starting with the head and bony parts, in the pot with hot fat.
Add a layer of potatoes, some onion, salt pork, pepper, and a sprinkle of flour.
Add a layer of split crackers.
Repeat layering with remaining fish, potatoes, and seasonings.
Cover with cold water and bring to a boil.
Boil for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
Finish and serve
In a tureen, combine the milk and butter, then pour in the chowder and serve hot.
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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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Cod or haddock
- Provides the flaky fish that forms the body of the chowder.
- Salt pork
- Renders fat into the pot that carries flavour through the chowder.
- Potatoes
- Soften during simmering and help thicken the broth as they break down.
- Split crackers
- Absorb liquid and help thicken the chowder as they soften.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and a mild sweetness to the finished broth.
The step that matters
Boil for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Boiling too hard can break the delicate fish apart and make the broth cloudy. A gentle, steady simmer cooks the potatoes through while the fish stays in flakes.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (haddock, flour, pork, potato, pepper, milk, butter):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against haddock, flour, pork, potato, pepper, milk, 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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