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Oysters and Macaroni

A baked casserole of macaroni with oysters, milk or butter sauce, cayenne, salt, breadcrumbs, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter 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 quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare

  1. Boil the macaroni in the oyster liquor or in weak stock until soft.

  2. Grease a dish with a little butter.

  3. Cut the macaroni into 2-inch pieces and lay them at the bottom of the dish.

Assemble

  1. Place the oysters on top.

  2. Season with cayenne, salt, and a little lemon juice or nutmeg.

  3. Pour the milk or sauce over the oysters.

  4. Cover with bread crumbs.

  5. Dot with butter.

Bake and serve

  1. Brown in a 400°F (200°C) oven.

  2. Serve very hot.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  3. Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

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

  5. Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,545 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

Macaroni
Forms the base layer and gives the dish its body once cooked soft.
Oysters
Provide the main savory flavor and tender texture in the dish.
Milk or melted butter sauce
Adds moisture so the layers stay creamy rather than drying out in the oven.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden top layer as they brown in the oven.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the crumb topping brown.

The step that matters

Brown in a 400°F (200°C) oven. The bread crumb topping needs enough heat to brown without the liquid underneath drying out. Watch the top closely, since the oysters and sauce cook quickly and can overcook.

“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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