Name: Escalloped Oysters
Ingredients: 1.5 gallons oysters; 1/2 cup pickles; 7 cans peas; 1.5 pounds coffee; 1.5 quantities Charlotte de Russe

Why it works: Oyster and peas work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 156 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Escalloped Oysters

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

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Remove the gills from the oysters and place them in a baking dish.
Layer the oysters with pickles and peas.

Bake and serve

Bake until heated through and the top is golden brown.
Serve with coffee and Charlotte de Russe for dessert.

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 + peastop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together156 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Peas + coffeetop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together70 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Oyster + coffeetop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together86 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).