Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Deviled Oysters
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 filling
Drain the oysters and chop them thoroughly.
Season with cayenne pepper, lemon juice, salt, and the yolks of the hard-boiled and raw eggs.
Add half as much bread crumbs as the amount of oysters and mix in the butter.
Fill and bake
Clean the oyster shells and fill them with the mixture.
Sprinkle with additional bread crumbs and bake at 400°F (200°C) for a few minutes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,545 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (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 body and briny flavor of the filling.
- Raw egg yolks
- Bind the chopped oysters and crumbs together and add richness.
- Hard-boiled egg yolks
- Add a crumbly, rich texture that helps thicken the filling.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and give the filling body so it holds its shape.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and helps the topping brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for a few minutes. Oysters cook quickly and turn rubbery if overheated. A short, hot bake sets the egg yolks and browns the crumbs while keeping the oysters tender. Watch closely because the window is brief.
“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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