Name: How to Broil Oysters
Ingredients: Oysters; Cayenne pepper (optional); Coarse sea salt; Melted butter

Why it works: Oyster and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,184 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

How to Broil Oysters

Ingredients

Oysters
Cayenne pepper (optional)
Coarse sea salt
Melted butter

Directions

Drain the oysters in a colander and wipe them dry with a napkin.
If desired, sprinkle a moderate amount of cayenne pepper on the oysters.
Gently salt the oysters and dip each one in melted butter.
Place the oysters on a greased double gridiron.
Broil over a brisk fire, basting with melted butter while cooking.
Serve on a hot dish and season with additional pepper and salt to taste.

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.

Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,184 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Oyster + peppertop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,663 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).