Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Oyster Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
In a large pot, combine 2 quarts of new milk and 1 pint of hot water; bring to a boil.
Add the liquid from 1 can of oysters and then the oysters; boil for 2 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve
Prepare a soup tureen with 2 dozen powdered oyster crackers and 1 tablespoon of butter.
Pour the soup over the crackers and serve immediately.
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.
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.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Milk + oystertop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,933 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together26,984 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- New milk
- Forms the creamy, rich body of the soup.
- Oysters
- Provide the main briny, savory flavor of the soup.
- Powdered oyster crackers
- Soak up the hot broth and add soft, starchy texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the crackers and broth.
The step that matters
Pour the soup over the crackers and serve immediately. Crackers soften quickly once hot liquid hits them. Serving right away keeps some crisp texture and prevents the crackers from turning mushy.
“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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