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Oyster Toast

A toast topped with a creamy oyster mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,062 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Oyster Toast

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the oysters

  1. Remove the gills from the oysters and mince them.

  2. Season the minced oysters with parsley and nutmeg.

Make the custard

  1. In a saucepan, beat the egg yolks and mix with milk or cream.

  2. Add the minced oysters to the egg mixture and heat over low flame.

  3. Stir constantly until thick, but remove from heat before boiling to prevent curdling.

Serve

  1. Prepare hot, buttered toast and pour the oyster mixture over it before serving.

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. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

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

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

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

  5. Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

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

What each ingredient does

Oysters
Provide the main savoury flavour and the bulk of the topping.
Egg yolks
Thicken the mixture as they set with gentle heat, giving it a creamy body.
Milk or cream
Dilutes the yolks and adds richness and a smooth, pourable texture.
Butter
Adds fat and flavour to the toast it is spread on.

The step that matters

Stir constantly and take it off the heat before it boils. Egg yolks thicken gently at low heat, but past boiling they scramble and curdle, leaving the sauce grainy instead of smooth.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, nutmeg, egg, milk, butter):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Allspicefits about as well
  4. Clovefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, nutmeg, egg, milk, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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