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Scalloped Clams

A baked clam dish with milk, eggs, butter, pepper, salt, and cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Scalloped Clams

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Clean the clams thoroughly and chop them finely.

  2. In a bowl, beat the eggs lightly and mix in the milk.

Layer and bake

  1. In a baking dish, layer the clams, followed by a layer of broken cracker crumbs.

  2. Sprinkle pepper, salt, and small pieces of butter over the layers.

  3. Repeat the layering process until all ingredients are used.

  4. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the layered clams and crackers.

  5. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Clam + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together840 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Clam + milktop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together636 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

Clams
Form the main body of the dish and provide its savoury, briny flavour.
Eggs
Set when baked, binding the layers into a custard-like structure.
Milk
Combines with the eggs to create a moist, creamy custard that soaks into the crumbs.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb the liquid custard and give the dish body and a soft, structured texture.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, contributing flavour and helping the top brown in the oven.

The step that matters

Pour the egg and milk mixture over the layers. The custard must reach all the layers so the eggs can set evenly; eggs coagulate as they heat, so uneven distribution can leave some areas loose and others dry.

“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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