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Scalloped Oysters, No. 2

A baked oyster dish topped with bread crumbs, cream, butter, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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 ↓

Scalloped Oysters, No. 2

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. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Butter a baking dish and cover the bottom with a layer of bread crumbs.

  3. Wet the crumbs with cream, spooning it over evenly.

Assemble

  1. Add oysters and a little of their liquor, seasoning with salt and pepper.

  2. Dot with small pieces of butter and cover completely with dry crumbs.

  3. Add more small pieces of butter on top.

  4. Cover the dish with a plate to retain flavor.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake until juices bubble up.

  2. Remove the cover.

  3. Brown for 2-3 minutes under the broiler.

  4. Serve in the baking dish.

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. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Bread + oystertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,545 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 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 filling and release their liquor, which moistens the dish as it bakes.
Bread crumbs
Form the structure of the scalloped layers and soak up the cream and juices.
Cream
Moistens the crumbs and adds richness to the sauce that forms around the oysters.
Butter
Adds fat and richness and helps the top crumbs brown under the broiler.

The step that matters

Brown for 2-3 minutes under the broiler. Broiler heat browns quickly, so the top can scorch in a short time. Watch closely to get golden color without burning the crumbs.

“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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