Why it works: Nutmeg and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Clam Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the clams
Put the clams into a large pot of boiling water to open their shells.
Once opened, remove the clams from the shells, saving the liquor.
Mix the clam liquor with 1 quart of water in a large pot.
Make the soup
Add the chopped veal and simmer slowly for 4 hours.
After 4 hours, add the sweet herbs, beaten nutmeg, mace, and whole pepper.
Stew slowly for 1 hour, then strain the mixture.
Return the liquor to the pot and add the butter pieces.
Cut the clams into pieces and add them to the pot, boiling for 15 minutes.
Serve with toasted bread cut into dice.
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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Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Clam + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together840 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Clams
- Provide the main flavour and body of the broth, and the clam meat served in the soup.
- Veal knuckle
- Adds gelatin and savoury depth to the broth during long, slow simmering.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel; flour coating helps it thicken and blend into the broth.
- Whole pepper
- Adds gentle aromatic heat that infuses the broth during stewing.
- Nutmeg
- Contributes warm, aromatic spice notes that complement the clams and broth.
- Mace
- Contributes a delicate, warm aroma related to nutmeg.
The step that matters
Simmer the veal slowly for 4 hours. A long, gentle simmer draws gelatin and flavour from the veal into the liquid. Boiling hard can cloud the broth and toughen the meat, so keep the heat low and steady.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, veal, nutmeg, pepper, butter, flour, bread):
- Parsleyfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Sagefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against clam, veal, nutmeg, pepper, butter, flour, bread. 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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