Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Oyster Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the oysters
Remove gills from oysters and scald them in their own liquor.
Strain the oyster liquor and add it to the broth.
Finish the soup
Thicken the broth with butter and flour, then simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the oysters, stir well, but do not let it boil.
Serve very 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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Mutton + oystertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together317 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Mutton + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,781 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Oyster + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,582 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (grass, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Mutton broth
- Forms the liquid base and carries the main savoury flavour of the soup.
- Oysters
- Provide the main flavour and a tender texture when gently heated.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, and helps carry flavour through the soup.
- Flour
- Thickens the broth as its starch swells in the hot liquid.
The step that matters
Add the oysters without boiling. Oysters toughen and shrink when held at a boil, becoming rubbery. Stirring them in off the boil and keeping the soup below a simmer keeps them tender and plump.
“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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