Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Oyster Soup
Ingredients
Directions
In a pot, combine 1 quart sweet milk and 1 pint boiling water.
Add the liquor from 1 quart of oysters and bring to a boil.
Stir in the oysters and ½ teacup of fine cracker crumbs.
Add butter, coarse sea salt, and black pepper to taste.
Avoid boiling too long to prevent the oysters from hardening.
Serve hot with toast or crackers.
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.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Milk + oystertop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,933 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together26,984 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oysters
- Provide the main flavour and tender texture of the soup.
- Cracker crumbs
- Thicken the broth slightly and give it body.
- Sweet milk
- Forms the creamy base of the soup.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Avoid boiling too long after adding the oysters. Prolonged boiling toughens oyster meat, making it firm and rubbery. Keeping the soup at a gentle heat once the oysters go in keeps them tender.
“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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