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Oyster Sandwiches

A chilled oyster mixture served between buttered bread slices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 Sandwiches

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Chop the oysters.

  2. Combine the oysters with cream, butter, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper.

  3. Simmer the mixture in a double boiler for 10 minutes.

  4. Add the beaten egg yolk.

Set and slice

  1. Pack the mixture into a small mold.

  2. Chill until set.

  3. Turn out the mold.

  4. Slice very thin.

Assemble

  1. Place the slices between slices of buttered bread.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

  4. Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,545 recipes

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

  5. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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, savory flavor of the filling.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the filling soft and smooth.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a silky mouthfeel.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and help the mixture hold its shape when chilled.
Egg yolk
Thickens and binds the mixture as it cooks, helping it set firm enough to slice.

The step that matters

Add the egg yolk gently. Egg yolk thickens through gentle heat. In a double boiler, keep the heat moderate after adding it so the yolk thickens smoothly instead of scrambling 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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