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Spiced Oysters

A preserved oyster dish flavored with vinegar, nutmeg, mace, cloves, allspice, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Spiced Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pickle

  1. Take one pint vinegar, one grated nutmeg, eight blades of whole mace, three dozen whole cloves, one teaspoonful salt, two teaspoonfuls whole allspice, and as much red pepper as will lie on the point of a knife.

  2. Put the oysters, with their liquor, into a large earthen vessel.

  3. Add vinegar and all other ingredients.

  4. Stir well together.

Cook

  1. Set over a slow fire.

  2. Keep covered.

  3. Stir them several times to the bottom.

  4. As soon as they are well scalded they are done.

Jar and serve

  1. Put into jars.

  2. If a larger quantity is made it can be kept for a long time.

  3. These are eaten cold.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

114Calories
10 gProtein
4 gFat
10 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
Oyster6 medium (84g)81
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
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.

By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  5. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Oysters
Are the main ingredient, cooked gently until just scalded and firm.
Vinegar
Acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the oysters.
Cloves
Adds warm, pungent aroma to the pickle.
Nutmeg
Adds warm, sweet aroma to the spiced pickle.
Mace
Adds a delicate, warm aroma related to nutmeg.
Allspice
Adds a mellow, warm spice aroma to the pickle.

The step that matters

Scalding over a slow fire. Heat must be gentle and the pot covered, with stirring to the bottom, so the oysters scald evenly. Overcooking toughens the oysters and makes them shrink and turn rubbery.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, allspice, oyster, nutmeg, clove, pepper):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, allspice, oyster, nutmeg, clove, 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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