Name: Stewed Oysters in a Bechamel Sauce
Ingredients: 1 pound rice; 1 quart gravy; Coarse sea salt (to taste); Fat ham (optional, for flavor); Bread (optional, for filling)

Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Stewed Oysters in a Bechamel Sauce

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.

Boil the rice until tender, then mash it against the sides of a stewpan with a strong wooden spoon until smooth.
Allow the rice to cool, then shape it into a raised pie using your hands.
Decorate the pie with a design made from a pointed carrot.
If using, cut the bread to fit inside the mold, leaving a thick crust.
Fill the mold with the rice and pour in the gravy.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until colored but not dried out.

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.

Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Rice + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,259 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Rice + hamtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together477 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).