Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Oyster Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Butter a large round dish and spread pastry over the sides and edge, leaving the bottom bare.
Make the filling
Drain some liquor from the oysters and place them in a pan.
Season the oysters with pepper, salt, and mixed spice, stirring well.
Add the chopped egg yolks and grated bread to the oysters.
Pour the oysters and their liquor into the prepared dish.
Top and bake
Roll out the lid of the pie and place it on top, crimping the edges.
Cut a small piece of pastry into a tulip shape and insert it into a slit in the upper crust.
Cut out eight large leaves of pastry and arrange them on the lid.
Bake the pie for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,890 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oysters
- Provide the main filling, releasing their liquor to moisten the pie as it bakes.
- Hard-boiled egg yolks
- Add richness and a creamy texture that binds into the oyster filling.
- Stale bread
- Absorbs liquid from the oysters, helping the filling hold together and turn less watery.
The step that matters
Drain some liquor from the oysters. Keeping some of the liquor adds moisture and flavour, but too much makes the filling watery and can soften the pastry. Drain only part of it, as the recipe directs.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, egg, bread, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, butter):
- Clovefits better
- Allspicefits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, egg, bread, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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