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Stewed Oysters II

A dish of oysters stewed with butter, flour, cream, salt, mace, and pepper.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Stewed Oysters II

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Shuck the oysters and save the liquid in the shell.

  2. Beat the butter smooth with the flour.

Cook and serve

  1. Put the oysters in a pan over medium heat.

  2. When they become hot, stir in the cream, butter, and flour.

  3. Season to taste with salt, mace, and pepper.

  4. Serve as soon as they are taken off the fire.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

695Calories
23 gProtein
21 gFat
102 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Oyster6 medium (84g)81
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

  4. Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,257 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  5. Oyster + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,886 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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
Main ingredient, providing the dish's flavour and texture when gently heated.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the sauce.
Flour
Thickens the butter and cream into a smooth, lightly bound sauce.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, giving the stew a creamy body.

The step that matters

Stir in the cream, butter, and flour once the oysters are hot. Adding the cream and flour mixture to oysters that are only warm, not boiling, lets the flour thicken smoothly. Overheating can curdle the cream and make the oysters tough and rubbery.

Swap the mace

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, butter, flour, cream, 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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