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Oyster Soup

A soup made from oysters, water, butter, salt, pepper, and optional milk or cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk 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

Start the broth

  1. Place the oyster liquor in a stew pan.

  2. Add ½ cup hot water.

  3. Bring to a boil.

  4. Skim well.

  5. Add salt.

  6. Add pepper.

  7. Add butter.

  8. Add the oysters.

  9. Let them simmer until the edges curl.

Add milk

  1. If using milk, bring 1 quart of milk to a boil.

  2. Add it instead of water before seasoning.

  3. Use equal parts cream and milk.

  4. Heat slowly.

Cream version

  1. Wash and drain 25 oysters.

  2. Strain their juice.

  3. Boil it.

  4. When the cream steams, add salt.

  5. Add cayenne.

  6. Add oyster juice.

  7. Drop in the oysters.

  8. Cover until it steams again, but do not boil.

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Oyster + milktop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,933 recipes

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

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Pepper + milktop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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 flavor and tender texture; their edges curl as they cook.
Milk
Adds liquid body and a mild, creamy sweetness to the soup.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel.
Cream (in the method)
Adds richness and a thicker, silkier body to the soup.

The step that matters

Do not let the soup boil after the oysters go in. High heat toughens oyster proteins, making them rubbery, and boiling dairy can curdle or separate. Gentle heat keeps the oysters tender and the milk smooth.

“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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