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 ↓
Clah-bake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Gather clams the day before and leave them in their shells covered with clean water.
Add Indian meal to the water to fatten the clams, then wash them thoroughly in two or more waters.
Clean the cod, season with salt and pepper, and wrap in a clean cloth.
Clean the live lobster and prepare the vegetables.
Build an oven with flat stones in a square shape, about 2.5 feet on each side.
Build the fire
Fill the bin with small sticks, then layer larger sticks crosswise, and top with stones.
Start a fire and let it burn down until the stones settle into the coals.
Clean out the cinders, cover the stones with 1.5 inches of green seaweed.
Bake and serve
Spread the clams on top of the seaweed, followed by the vegetables, cod, and lobster.
Cover with a cotton cloth and then with seaweed to trap steam.
Bake for 35 minutes, removing the covering from one corner at a time to serve.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + corntop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together938 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Clam + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together80 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).
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Pepper + corntop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Clams
- Fatten in Indian meal water and then steam to become tender and flavorful in their shells.
- Cod
- Steams gently under the cloth and seaweed, cooking into moist, flaky flesh.
- Lobster
- Steams in the trapped heat, cooking its meat while the shell keeps it moist.
- Potatoes
- Absorb steam and cooking juices, becoming soft and starchy in the bake.
- Green corn
- Steams inside its husk, turning sweet and tender as its sugars soften.
The step that matters
Covering the bake with cloth and seaweed. The cloth and seaweed trap steam so the food cooks evenly with moist heat. Letting steam escape too early leaves the seafood dry and the vegetables undercooked.
Swap the seaweed
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, pepper, lobster, potato, onion, corn):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Seaweedthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against clam, pepper, lobster, potato, onion, corn. 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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