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Oyster Sandwiches

A sandwich made with oysters, butter, sweet cream, soda crackers, and beaten egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Oyster Sandwiches

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the oysters finely.

  2. Roll the crackers into a dust.

  3. Beat the egg whites until stiff.

Make the filling

  1. Mix all ingredients together.

  2. Cook in a double boiler until a smooth paste forms.

  3. Let it cool completely, then cut into thin slices.

Assemble

  1. Layer the mixture between thin 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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  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. Meat + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,594 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Oyster + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,886 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Oyster meats
Provide the main filling and its briny, savory flavor.
Melted butter
Adds richness and fat, giving the filling a softer, smoother texture.
Sweet cream
Adds moisture and richness, helping the mixture form a smooth paste.
Soda crackers
Crushed into a dust to absorb moisture and bind the filling.
Egg whites
Beaten stiff to add structure and help the filling set when cooked.

The step that matters

Cook in a double boiler until a smooth paste forms. Gentle indirect heat cooks the egg whites and starches slowly, so they thicken into a smooth paste without curdling, scorching or 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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