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 ↓
Oyster Patties
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.
Make the cases
Line patty pans with thin pastry, pressing it well into the tin.
Place a piece of bread or a ball of paper in each pan.
Cover with pastry.
Brush with egg white.
Cut an inch square of thin pastry and place the pastry square on each pan.
Glaze the pastry square with egg.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15-20 minutes.
Remove the bread or paper when half cold.
Make the oyster filling
Scald the oysters in their own liquor.
Cut each oyster into four.
Strain the liquor.
In a thick saucepan, melt butter and flour over heat until the flour smells cooked.
Pour in the oyster liquor and milk (or cream).
Stir until thick and smooth.
Add the oysters and let them boil once.
Remove from heat.
Stir in the beaten egg yolks until the sauce resembles thick custard.
Fill and serve
Fill the patties with the oyster mixture.
Keep warm in boiling water before serving.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
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 the filling's texture when cut and gently cooked.
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce and carries flavour, with flour forming the base of the thickened sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the liquid into a smooth sauce when cooked briefly with the butter.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce into a custard-like consistency and add richness when stirred in off the heat.
- Milk
- Forms the creamy liquid base of the sauce along with the oyster liquor.
- Egg white
- Glazes the pastry, helping it brown and seal during baking.
The step that matters
Stirring in the egg yolks off the heat. Egg yolks thicken by gentle heat. If the sauce is too hot or boils after they go in, they can scramble and curdle, leaving a grainy texture instead of a smooth custard-like sauce.
“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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