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Oyster or Clam Stew

A milk-based stew of clams or oysters with cracker crumbs, butter, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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 ↓

Oyster or Clam Stew

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Scald the milk in a pot.

  2. Prepare and cut the clams finely or open the cans of oysters.

Make the stew

  1. Add the clams or oysters to the scalded milk.

  2. Cook the clams for 1–2 hours in a little water or let them boil once in the milk.

  3. Stir in the rolled cracker crumbs and butter.

  4. Season with salt and pepper after removing from heat.

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. Milk + clamtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together636 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26,984 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Milk
Forms the liquid base of the stew and gives it a rich, creamy body.
Clams
Provide the main seafood flavor and texture of the stew.
Rolled cracker crumbs
Thicken the milk slightly as they absorb liquid, giving the stew more body.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth mouthfeel and rounded flavor.

The step that matters

Cook the clams gently. Milk scorches and curdles when it boils hard or for long, and clams turn tough and rubbery when overcooked. Keeping the heat low and the simmer brief protects both the milk and the texture of the shellfish.

“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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