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 ↓
Creamed Oysters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the oysters
Put the oysters in a saucepan and cook in their own liquor until plump.
Make the cream sauce
In a double boiler, heat the cream and mace until scalding.
In the saucepan, cook butter and flour together.
Remove the mace and add the hot cream slowly to the butter and flour.
Season with salt and pepper.
Finish and serve
Add the cooked oysters and serve.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
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
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Mace | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Cream + macetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,009 recipes
-
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 (in the method)
- Provide the main flavor and tender texture once cooked gently in their own liquor.
- Butter
- Adds richness and, with flour, forms the base of the thickened sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the cream by cooking with butter into a roux, giving the sauce body.
- Cream
- Supplies richness and a smooth, velvety body to the sauce.
The step that matters
Adding the hot cream to the butter and flour. Pouring hot cream slowly into the roux while stirring keeps it smooth. Adding it too fast can cause lumps, because starch granules clump before they can disperse evenly.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cream, flour, pepper):
- Nutmegfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cream, flour, 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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