Name: Fried Oysters
Ingredients: Oysters; Pepper; Coarse sea salt; Sifted cracker crumbs; 1 beaten egg; Milk

Why it works: Oyster and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,103 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Fried Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Drain the oysters in a colander.
Sprinkle with pepper and coarse sea salt, then refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
Roll each oyster in sifted cracker crumbs.
Dip in beaten egg mixed with a little milk and seasoned with pepper and salt.
Roll in cracker crumbs again before frying.

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.

Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,103 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Oyster + milktop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,933 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Pepper + milktop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together26,984 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Oyster + peppertop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,663 recipes

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