Name: Oyster Cocktails
Ingredients: 2 oz small oysters with liquor; 1 teaspoon lemon juice; 3 drops Tabasco sauce; 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce; 2 teaspoons tomato sauce

Why it works: Lemon and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,592 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Oyster Cocktails

Ingredients

2 oz small oysters with liquor
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 drops Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons tomato sauce

Directions

Strain the oyster liquor.
Combine the oysters, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato sauce in a glass.
Stir well and serve very cold.

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.

Lemon + tomatotop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,592 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Oyster + saucetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,233 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sauce + tomatotop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,469 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Oyster + tomatotop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together534 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Oyster + lemontop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,942 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Oysters: Main ingredient that gives the cocktail its briny, seafood flavour and tender texture.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the saltiness of the oysters.
Tomato sauce: Adds tomato body, colour and a mild sweetness to the sauce.
Worcestershire sauce: Adds savoury depth and umami to the liquid around the oysters.
Tabasco sauce: Adds a sharp, peppery heat that cuts through the brininess.