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Stewed Oysters I

A simple oyster stew made with butter, cream, mace, bay leaves, and seasoning.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Stewed Oysters I

Time5 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Shuck the oysters, saving any liquid in the oyster.

Stew

  1. Put the oysters with all their liquid into a saucepan and add the butter, salt, black pepper, mace, and bay leaves.

  2. Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.

  3. Add the cream and shake all well together while heating through.

Serve

  1. Pour onto a plate or platter, grating a little fresh nutmeg on each oyster as it lies in the sauce.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

254Calories
10 gProtein
20 gFat
8 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Oyster6 medium (84g)81
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
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. Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

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

  4. Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  5. Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Oysters
Provide the main ingredient, cooking gently so they stay tender and plump.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the stewing liquid.
Cream
Adds body and smoothness, mellowing the sauce as it heats through.
Bay leaves
Infuse the liquid with a subtle herbal aroma during simmering.

The step that matters

Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Oysters toughen and shrink when overcooked, so holding a gentle simmer for only the stated time keeps them tender and juicy.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, butter, cream, pepper, nutmeg):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Allspicefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, butter, cream, pepper, nutmeg. 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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