Name: Beefsteak and Oyster Pie
Ingredients: steak; pepper; coarse sea salt; pastry; oysters; oyster liquor; mace; 1 teaspoon ketchup

Why it works: Oyster and ketchup work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 318 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Beefsteak and Oyster Pie

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Beat the steak gently with a rolling pin and season with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Line a deep dish with pastry.
Layer the seasoned steak with oysters.

Assemble and bake

Pour in the oyster liquor, add a little mace, and 1 teaspoon of ketchup.
Cover with a top crust and bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden.

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 + ketchuptop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together318 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together12,257 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Pepper + oystertop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,663 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper + ketchuptop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,207 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Mace + ketchuptop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together807 recipes

Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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

Steak: Provides the meaty bulk and savory flavor of the filling.
Oysters: Add a briny, savory flavor that seasons the filling.
Pastry: Forms a sealed crust that holds the filling and browns in the oven.
Oyster liquor: Adds moisture and concentrated oyster flavor to the filling.
Ketchup: Adds sweetness and acidity that rounds out the savory filling.

The step that matters

Cover with a top crust and bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden. Steak needs enough time at oven heat to become tender while the liquid in the filling stays contained. A well-sealed top crust traps moisture and lets the pastry brown, so the filling cooks through without drying out or leaking.