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
Prepare the oysters
Combine oysters and water in a pot.
Bring the mixture to a boil and skim off any foam.
Make the thickened milk
In a bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the milk.
In a separate pan, melt the butter and stir in the flour to create a roux.
Finish the soup
Gradually add the egg and milk mixture to the pot, stirring continuously.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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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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).
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Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,103 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, 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 flavor and the briny, savory character of the soup.
- Eggs
- Thicken the liquid and add richness when gently heated.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and body to the broth.
- Butter
- Carries fat for a rich mouthfeel and helps form the roux.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter into a roux that stabilizes the soup's texture.
The step that matters
Adding the egg and milk mixture. Eggs curdle if they get too hot too fast. Adding the mixture gradually while stirring tempers it, so it thickens smoothly instead of turning grainy.
“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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