Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Stewed Oysters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Separate the oysters from the liquor.
Stew
In a stew pan, combine the oyster liquor, water, cream, butter, pepper, salt, and bread crumbs.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Add the oysters and cook until thoroughly heated.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,545 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oysters
- Provide the main substance and delicate briny flavor of the stew.
- Oyster liquor
- Adds concentrated oyster flavor and salinity to the broth.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, mellow body to the broth.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a silky mouthfeel.
- Bread crumbs
- Thicken the liquid slightly and give the broth body.
The step that matters
Add the oysters and cook until thoroughly heated. Oysters toughen and shrink when overcooked. Adding them at the end, just until heated through, keeps them tender and plump.
“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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