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 ↓
Fish Chowder
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fish
Skin the fish, leaving the head and tail on; cut off the head and tail, and remove the fish from the backbone.
Cut the fish into 2‑inch pieces and set aside.
Make the stock
In a stewpan, place the head, tail, and broken backbone with 2 cups of cold water; bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
Build the chowder
Cut the salt pork into small pieces and render the fat; add the onion and fry for 5 minutes, then strain the fat into the stewpan.
Add the potatoes to the fat, then add 2 cups of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the liquid drained from the bones and the fish, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in the milk, salt, pepper, butter, and the crackers soaked in enough cold milk to moisten them.
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 + porktop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Butter + milktop 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
- Forms the main body of the chowder, flaking into tender pieces as it simmers.
- Potatoes
- Release starch as they cook, thickening the broth and adding body.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and a soft, rich texture to the finished chowder.
- Crackers
- Soaked in milk, they help thicken the chowder and add a mellow body.
- Salt pork
- Renders fat that carries the onion flavor and enriches the broth.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, rounded flavor to the finished chowder.
The step that matters
Simmering the fish gently after adding the liquid. Fish is delicate and its proteins toughen and dry out if boiled hard, so it should simmer gently until just flaked.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (haddock, potato, pepper, butter, milk, pork):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Tomatofits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against haddock, potato, pepper, butter, milk, pork. 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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