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Scalloped Oysters in Tomato Sauce

A baked dish of oysters topped with white sauce, tomato juice, green pepper, and cracker dust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Scalloped Oysters in Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the sauce

  1. Prepare the white sauce.

  2. Stir in the tomato juice and season to taste.

  3. Add a little minced green pepper.

Assemble and bake

  1. In a baking dish, layer the oysters and tomato sauce alternately, adding a little cracker dust between layers.

  2. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for twenty 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. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Oyster + saucetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sauce + tomatotop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,469 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Oyster + tomatotop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together534 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Oyster + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,663 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 seafood flavor and tender texture once baked.
White sauce
Adds richness and moisture that keeps the layers from drying out in the oven.
Tomato juice
Adds acidity and moisture to the sauce, balancing the richness of the dish.
Cracker dust
Absorbs liquid between layers and helps the top brown lightly while baking.

The step that matters

Layering the oysters and sauce. Alternating layers with cracker dust distributes moisture evenly. Too much liquid in one spot can make the dish soggy, while too little leaves the oysters dry as they cook.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, sauce, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Horseradishfits better
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, sauce, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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