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Scalloped Oysters

Scalloped oysters are baked oysters topped with breadcrumbs, butter, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Scalloped Oysters

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

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.

Prepare the oysters

  1. Remove the gills and hard white parts from the oysters.

  2. Combine oysters and oyster liquor in a saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes.

Assemble and bake

  1. Grease an earthenware dish or scallop shells with melted butter.

  2. Add a layer of bread crumbs about ½ inch thick.

  3. Strain the oyster liquor over the bread crumbs.

  4. Place the oysters evenly on top of the crumbs.

  5. Cover the oysters with more bread crumbs, seasoned with pepper and salt.

  6. Spread a thick layer of butter over the top.

  7. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 15-20 minutes.

  8. If needed, brown the top with a salamander.

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.

  1. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

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

  3. Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,545 recipes

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

  4. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

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

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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 and their briny flavour once simmered and baked.
Bread crumbs
Form the layers that soak up the liquor and hold the dish together.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the top brown as it bakes.
Oyster liquor
Moistens the crumbs and carries the oyster flavour through the dish.

The step that matters

Simmering the oysters. Simmering only until the edges curl keeps the oysters tender; overcooking toughens their proteins, and they cook again in the oven.

“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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