Name: To Scallop Otstees
Ingredients: 100 oysters, rinsed and drained; 4 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped; 1 sixpenny loaf, crumbled or grated; pepper to taste; coarse sea salt to taste; butter, for adding bits; bread crumbs, for topping

Why it works: Butter and bread 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 ↓

To Scallop Otstees

Ingredients

100 oysters, rinsed and drained
4 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped
1 sixpenny loaf, crumbled or grated
pepper to taste
coarse sea salt to taste
butter, for adding bits
bread crumbs, for topping

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

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the chopped eggs, crumbled bread, pepper, and salt.

Layer and bake

In a pie dish, layer some of the mixture at the bottom.
Add a layer of oysters, then a few bits of butter.
Cover with another layer of the egg and bread mixture.
Repeat layering with oysters and the mixture until all ingredients are used.
Top with bread crumbs.
Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown.

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,184 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,545 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,103 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

Oysters: Form the main filling and provide the dish's savory, briny flavor.
Hard-boiled eggs: Add body and richness to the bread mixture between the oyster layers.
Sixpenny loaf: Soaks up liquid and gives the filling structure and a soft, bready texture.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, helping the top and layers brown as they bake.

The step that matters

Layering the oysters. Keeping the oysters covered by the egg and bread mixture helps them cook gently inside the dish rather than drying or toughening on the surface, while the bread absorbs their juices.

“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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To Scallop Otstees