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Fricasseed Oysters

A savory oyster fricassee made with pickled ham, broth, and a creamy egg sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,979 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Fricasseed Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ham

  1. Soak the pickled ham in boiling water for 30 minutes.

  2. Cut the ham into small pieces and place in a saucepan with the broth, oyster liquor, minced onion, parsley, marjoram, and pepper.

Make the fricassee

  1. Simmer for 20 minutes, then boil rapidly for 2-3 minutes.

  2. Skim the mixture and add the corn-starch mixed with milk, stirring constantly until it boils.

  3. Add the oysters and butter, letting it come to a boil before removing the oysters to a deep dish.

  4. Beat the egg and gradually mix in some hot broth, then stir it into the pan.

  5. Season with salt to taste.

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. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Marjoram + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Marjoram + corntop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together89 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Oysters
Provide the main seafood flavor and are cooked briefly so they stay tender.
Corn-starch
Thickens the broth into a smooth, lightly bodied sauce as it boils.
Egg
Enriches and thickens the sauce when gently blended in with hot broth.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the sauce.
Milk
Adds creaminess and softness to the thickened sauce.
Pickled raw ham
Contributes salty, savory flavor to the broth.

The step that matters

Adding the egg. Egg thickens through gentle heat; if the hot broth is added too quickly or the mixture boils after the egg goes in, it can curdle or scramble. Tempering the egg with some hot broth first raises its temperature gradually and keeps the sauce smooth.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, veal, oyster, parsley, marjoram, pepper, corn):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, veal, oyster, parsley, marjoram, pepper, corn. 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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