Name: Parsnip Oysters
Ingredients: 3 grated parsnips; 3 eggs; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teacup sweet cream; 2 tablespoons butter; 3 tablespoons flour

Why it works: Parsnip and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 669 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Parsnip Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

In a bowl, combine grated parsnips, eggs, salt, sweet cream, and flour.
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.

Cook the pancakes

Pour batter into the skillet to form pancakes.
Fry until golden brown on both sides.
Salsify can be used instead of parsnips.

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.

Parsnip + flourtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together669 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

Eggs: Bind the batter and help the pancakes hold their shape while frying.
Flour: Adds body to the batter so it holds together in the skillet.
Sweet cream: Adds moisture and richness to the batter.
Butter: Fat for frying, helping the pancakes brown and taste rich.
Grated parsnips: Main vegetable, supplying moisture and mild sweetness to the batter.