Skip to main content
Main

Scalloped Oysters

A baked oyster dish with egg, bread crumbs, butter, salt, cayenne, and optional mace.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Oyster and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,545 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Scalloped Oysters

Oven375–400°F
Time45 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the eggs very fine, and mix with the crumbs. Season with cayenne, salt, and mace.

Assemble

  1. Cover the bottom of a deep pie dish with the eggs and crumbs.

  2. Use a fork to place a layer of oysters over the egg mixture, along with 2–3 small pieces of butter. Continue until all ingredients are used up, reserving sufficient crumbs for a final layer.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake 45 minutes at 375–400°F. Serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

622Calories
29 gProtein
9 gFat
102 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Oyster6 medium (84g)81
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Macenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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. Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,545 recipes

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

  2. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,103 recipes

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

  4. Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,257 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  5. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

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

Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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
Provide the main filling and a briny, savory flavor as they cook in the dish.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid from the oysters and give the dish body and a soft, set texture.
Hard-boiled eggs
Add richness and a creamy texture that binds with the crumbs.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat and richness, helping the top and layers brown and taste rich.

The step that matters

Layering the oysters and crumbs. Oysters release liquid as they cook, so the crumb layers need to be sufficient to absorb it. Keeping a reserved crumb layer on top helps the surface brown without drying the oysters underneath.

Swap the mace

The recipe marks mace as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, bread, egg, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, bread, egg, 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.

You might also like

Brown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesWhite BreadWhite Bread80 recipesBread OmeletteBread Omelette60 recipesOatmeal BreadOatmeal Bread51 recipes