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Steak Stuffed with Oysters

A steak rolled thin, filled with oysters and parsley, tied with tape, roasted, dredged in salt, pepper, mustard, and flour, and basted.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Steak Stuffed with Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Beat and roll the steak thin.

  2. Fill it with the oysters and parsley.

  3. Tie it securely with white tape.

Roast and serve

  1. Roast it before a clear fire.

  2. Dredge occasionally with a mixture of salt, pepper, mustard, and flour, and baste frequently.

  3. Cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

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

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

  2. Parsley + mustardtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,588 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,675 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Mustard + flourtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,066 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Steak
Forms the outer meat that wraps and holds the stuffing together while it roasts.
Oysters
Add a briny, savoury flavour and moisture to the filling.
Parsley
Adds a fresh, herbal aroma that brightens the rich filling.
Mustard
Adds a sharp, pungent flavour that balances the richness of the meat.
Flour
Helps the dredged coating form a crust that browns during roasting.

The step that matters

Tie it securely with white tape. If the rolled steak is loose, the filling can leak out during roasting and the roll can open up. A firm, even tie keeps the stuffing enclosed and the roll a compact shape that cooks evenly.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, parsley, pepper, flour):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Okrafits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, parsley, pepper, flour. 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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