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Broiled Oysters

Broiled oysters served on toast with melted butter, lemon wedges, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Broiled Oysters

one dozen oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Drain the oysters and wipe them dry.

  2. Season with coarse sea salt and black pepper.

  3. Roll the oysters in oil or melted butter.

Broil and serve

  1. Place in a double broiler and broil over a brisk fire for 4 minutes on each side.

  2. Serve on fresh slices of toast, pour a little melted butter over, and garnish with lemon wedges and parsley.

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. Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  5. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

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

What each ingredient does

Oysters
Are the main component, cooked briefly so they firm up and turn opaque while staying juicy.
Oil or melted butter
Coats the oysters so they brown evenly and do not dry out under the heat.
Fresh slices of toast
Provides a crisp base that soaks up the juices and adds a contrasting texture.
Melted butter for serving
Adds richness and a silky fat finish to the finished dish.

The step that matters

Broiling the oysters. Oysters overcook quickly under intense heat, becoming rubbery and dry. Brief, high heat sets the flesh while keeping it tender and moist, so watch them closely during the 4 minutes per side.

“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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