Name: Pickled Oysters
Ingredients: oysters; strong vinegar; coarse sea salt; peppercorns; mace

Why it works: Vinegar and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,415 recipes. The science ↓

Pickled Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Remove gills from the oysters and place them in a stewpan with their own liquor.
Simmer the oysters for about 15 minutes.
Remove the oysters and strain the liquor.
Add twice the amount of the liquor in strong vinegar, along with salt, peppercorns, and mace.
Boil the mixture and let it cool completely.
Pour the cooled mixture over the oysters and seal them in jars.

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.

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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.

Vinegar + macetop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,415 recipes
Oyster + macetop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,910 recipes
Oyster + vinegartop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,024 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).