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 ↓
Clam Chowder
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the salt pork into small pieces and fry it lightly in a stew pan.
Slice the onions and potatoes, then add them to the pan along with the strained liquor from the clams.
Cook gently for a short time, then add some of the milk.
Continue cooking until the pork and vegetables are done.
Add the clams and the remaining milk, bring to a boil, and serve after 15 minutes.
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).
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Clam + porktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together305 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Clam + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together80 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salt pork
- Renders fat into the pan, adding savoury flavour to the base of the chowder.
- Potatoes
- Soften as they cook, thickening the chowder and giving it body.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy liquid base that gives the chowder its smooth texture.
- Clams
- Provide the main seafood flavour and, with their liquor, the dish's briny character.
The step that matters
Bring to a boil after adding the milk. Milk can scorch or curdle if it is overheated for too long, so the chowder should be heated just until it boils and kept from over-reducing once the clams are added.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, pork, potato, milk):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Tomatofits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against clam, pork, potato, milk. 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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