Why it works: Pepper and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,555 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Minced Sea Clams
Ingredients
Directions
Open the can of Pioneer Minced Sea Clams.
In a pot, combine the clams with enough water or broth to make soup or chowder.
Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Add green peas and cook until tender.
For a more elaborate dish, add quarters of new carrots or peeled mushroom caps.
Serve hot.
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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Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + carrottop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,994 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Peas + mushroomtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together890 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Carrot + mushroomtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,796 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the carrot
The recipe marks carrot as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clam, pepper, peas, mushroom):
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatofits better
- Carrotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against clam, pepper, peas, mushroom. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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