Name: Crab Scalloped
Ingredients: 1 crab; ½ cup fine white breadcrumbs; 2 teaspoons vinegar; a little pepper; a little coarse sea salt; ½ cup cream; butter; browned breadcrumbs

Why it works: Cream and butter 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 ↓

Crab Scalloped

Ingredients

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 the filling

Remove the meat from the body and claws of the crab.
In a bowl, combine crab meat, breadcrumbs, vinegar, pepper, and salt.
Stir in the cream until well mixed.

Bake and serve

Spoon the mixture into greased scallop shells.
Top with small pieces of butter and sprinkle with browned breadcrumbs.
Heat thoroughly in a 350°F (175°C) oven.

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.

Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Crab + creamtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together317 recipes

Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
Crab + buttertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together812 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Crab + peppertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together922 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Crab: Provides the main flavour and tender, flaky meat for the filling.
Fine white breadcrumbs: Absorb liquid and give the filling body so it holds together rather than running.
Cream: Adds moisture and richness, keeping the filling soft as it heats.
Butter: Melts over the top to add fat and help the crumbs brown.

“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.