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Oysters and Macaroni

A baked macaroni dish with oysters, butter, milk, eggs, and cracker crumbs.

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 ↓

Oysters and Macaroni

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the macaroni

  1. Break the macaroni into 1-inch pieces.

  2. Boil the macaroni in water for 20 minutes.

  3. Skim the macaroni out.

Assemble

  1. Layer half of the macaroni in a buttered pudding dish.

  2. Add the oysters and their liquor, along with bits of butter, salt, and pepper.

  3. Top with the remaining macaroni.

  4. Beat the eggs and mix with the milk.

  5. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the macaroni.

  6. Spread the cracker crumbs on top.

Bake

  1. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes, or until browned on top.

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 + eggtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,103 recipes

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

  4. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Macaroni
Forms the bulk and structure of the dish, holding the layers together.
Oysters
Provide the main flavour, releasing their liquor into the dish as it bakes.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, helping the top brown and the dish stay moist.
Eggs
Bind the milk into a custard that sets as the dish bakes.
Sweet milk
Forms the liquid custard that soaks into the macaroni and sets when baked.
Fine cracker crumbs
Form a crisp, browned topping over the baked dish.

The step that matters

Pour the egg and milk mixture over the macaroni. The egg and milk must reach the whole dish evenly so the custard sets throughout rather than pooling or leaving dry pockets. Pouring slowly and letting it settle into the layers helps it soak in before baking.

“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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