Name: Deviled Oysters in Paper Cases
Ingredients: oysters; tomato ketchup; paper cases

Why it works: Oyster and ketchup work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 318 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Deviled Oysters in Paper Cases

Ingredients

oysters
tomato ketchup
paper cases

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Remove the oysters from their shells and place them in paper cases.
Top the oysters with tomato ketchup.
Bake in the oven until heated through.
Serve immediately.

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 + ketchuptop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together318 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Oyster + tomatotop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together534 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Tomato + ketchuptop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together754 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).