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Oysters and Macaroni

A baked casserole of oysters, macaroni, butter, breadcrumbs, milk, and cheese.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

Oysters and Macaroni

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Wash and carefully look over the oysters.

  2. Cook the macaroni in salted boiling water until tender, then drain.

Assemble

  1. In a small baking dish, layer macaroni, then oysters, seasoning with salt and adding a little butter.

  2. Repeat the layers and cover with buttered bread crumbs.

  3. Pour the milk over the top and sprinkle with a little grated cheese.

Bake

  1. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 20 minutes.

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.

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. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Oysters
Provide the main seafood flavour and tender, briny body of the casserole.
Macaroni
Forms the starchy base layers that soak up the milk and hold the casserole together.
Milk
Adds moisture that turns into a creamy sauce as the casserole bakes.
Grated cheese
Melts into the milk and browns on top, adding richness and savoury flavour.
Butter
Adds fat and richness to the layers and helps the crumbs brown.

The step that matters

Washing and checking the oysters. Oysters can carry grit and shell fragments, and any that are spoiled should be discarded before cooking. Careful inspection keeps the dish clean and safe to eat.

“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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