Name: Oyster Pie
Ingredients: 100 large oysters; Rich pastry for lining the dish; Mace, to taste; Pepper, to taste; Coarse sea salt, to taste; 1 tablespoon butter; Flour, for dusting

Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Oyster Pie

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

Drain the oysters and line a dish with rich pastry.
Layer the oysters in the dish, seasoning with mace, pepper, and coarse sea salt.

Assemble and bake

Add a lump of butter the size of a nutmeg and dust a little flour over the oysters.
Pour in the liquor from the oysters and dust a little flour over that.
Add the top crust and bake for 1 hour at 350°F (175°C).

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.

Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,184 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together12,257 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together50,459 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

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

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Oysters: Form the main filling and contribute their briny, savoury flavour.
Rich pastry: Forms the crust that encloses the filling and holds it during baking.
Butter: Adds richness and moisture to the filling as it melts over the oysters.
Flour: Dusted over the oysters and liquor to thicken the juices into a light sauce.

The step that matters

Add the top crust and bake for 1 hour at 350°F (175°C). The crust must be sealed well so steam and juices stay inside, keeping the oysters moist rather than dry. Baking at the stated temperature for the full hour lets the pastry set and cook through.