Why it works: Oyster and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,545 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Oyster Sausages
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
Chop together the oysters, veal, suet, and bread crumbs.
Season the mixture with salt and pepper.
Fry and serve
Form small cakes and roll them in flour mixed with the egg.
Fry the cakes in hot lard until they are dry.
Serve hot.
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.
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Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,545 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,103 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oysters
- Provide the main flavor and moisture of the sausage mixture.
- Veal
- Adds body and a meaty texture to the mixture.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the cakes moist and rich as they cook.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and help bind the chopped mixture together.
- Egg
- Helps the flour coating adhere and form a crust when fried.
The step that matters
Frying the cakes in hot lard. The lard must be hot enough to crisp the flour coating quickly; if it is too cool, the cakes absorb grease and turn heavy and soggy before the coating sets.
“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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