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Maryland Chowder

A creamy cod or haddock chowder with clams or oysters, water crackers, butter, cream, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Haddock and cream work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 181 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Maryland Chowder

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a saucepan or iron pot, add the water and onion.

  2. Place half of the fish skin side down and sprinkle with half the salt, pepper, mace, and cayenne.

Layer and stew

  1. Add half of the clams or oysters, half the butter in small lumps, and half the crackers.

  2. Layer the remaining fish, clams, seasoning, and crackers on top.

  3. Pour the boiled cream over everything.

  4. Cover tightly and stew for 30 minutes.

Serve

  1. Serve on a platter, adding more water if the chowder is too dry.

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. Haddock + creamtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together181 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Butter + clamtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together840 recipes

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

  5. Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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 stews.
Water crackers
Soak up liquid and thicken the chowder, giving it body.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the broth.
Clams or oysters
Contribute briny, savoury flavour to the chowder.
Cream
Adds richness and a silky texture to the liquid.

The step that matters

Cover tightly and stew for 30 minutes. Keeping the lid tightly closed traps steam so the fish cooks gently and stays moist. Lifting the lid or boiling hard can toughen the fish and break it apart.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (haddock, butter, clam, cream, onion, pepper):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against haddock, butter, clam, cream, onion, pepper. 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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