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Coquilles of Shrimps a LA Torquay

A creamy shrimp dish baked in scallop shells with a buttery, flour-based sauce topped with cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 ↓

Coquilles of Shrimps a LA Torquay

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.

Make the sauce

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

  2. When the butter hisses, stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes.

  3. Remove from heat and slowly add the hot milk, whisking continuously.

  4. Reheat the mixture and whisk steadily for 2 minutes.

  5. Season with salt and cayenne, then return to the heat.

  6. Cook in a double boiler for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep smooth.

  7. Stir in the minced shrimps and bring to a boil, cooking for 1 minute.

Fill and bake

  1. Fill buttered scallop shells with the mixture.

  2. Top with cracker crumbs and dot with butter bits.

  3. Brown in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C).

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,580 recipes

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

  4. Butter + shrimptop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,931 recipes

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

  5. Milk + mushroomtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,231 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Milk or cream
Forms the liquid base that thickens into a smooth, creamy sauce.
Butter
Enriches the sauce with fat and flavour, and helps the topping brown.
Flour
Thickens the milk into a smooth white sauce when cooked with the butter.
Shrimps or prawns
Provides the main seafood flavour and tender texture in the sauce.
Mushrooms
Adds savoury, earthy flavour and moisture to the filling.

The step that matters

Keeping the sauce smooth while thickening. Adding hot milk to the roux and whisking constantly prevents lumps, because flour starch must be dispersed before it swells and thickens evenly. Gentle double-boiler heat keeps the sauce from scorching or curdling.

“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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