Why it works: Cream and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,481 recipes. Both carry acetaldehyde, which smells pungent, ethereal. The science ↓
Oyster Patties
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the patties
Line small patty pans with fine puff pastry rolled thin.
Put a bit of bread in each pan to preserve their form when baked.
Cover the pans, trim the edges, and place the patties in a brisk oven.
Make the oyster filling
Drain the oysters and put them in a saucepan.
Throw in a teaspoonful of flour with an ounce of butter, salt and spice to suit.
Stir the mixture over a gentle fire for two or three minutes.
Add three spoonfuls of cream gradually.
Pour in the liquor of the oysters and let all boil for ten minutes.
Fill and serve
Raise the covers of the patties.
Take out the bread.
Fill the patties with oysters and sauce.
Replace the covers and serve hot.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 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.
-
Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, and combines with the flour to form a smooth sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and oyster liquor into a sauce that coats the oysters.
The step that matters
Boiling the sauce after adding the oyster liquor. Boiling for the full time lets the flour starch swell and thicken the liquid, and cooks out the raw flour taste. If the sauce is too thin, the filling will run out of the patties.
“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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