Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Stewed Oysters
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the oysters
Stew the oysters in their own liquor until boiling, then skim and remove them.
Strain the liquor through a fine sieve and set the oysters aside on a dish.
Make the sauce
In a stew pan, melt the butter, then add enough flour to absorb it.
Stir in the oyster liquor and milk or cream, along with white pepper and salt.
Optionally, add ketchup, parsley, lemon peel, and lemon juice.
Bring the mixture to a boil for a couple of minutes until smooth.
Remove from heat and gently stir in the oysters, ensuring they do not boil.
Serve
Line the bottom and sides of a serving dish with bread pieces.
Pour the oysters and sauce into the lined dish.
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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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oysters
- Provide the main substance and flavor, and are cooked gently so they stay tender.
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce and carries the flour, adding richness and a smooth mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Thickens the oyster liquor and milk into a smooth, cohesive sauce.
- Milk or cream
- Adds body, mild sweetness and richness to the sauce.
The step that matters
Keep the oysters below a boil. Oysters are delicate; boiling them after they are added toughens the proteins and makes them shrink and turn rubbery, so they should be stirred in off the heat.
Swap the parsley
The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, butter, flour, milk, white pepper, ketchup, lemon):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Thymefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, butter, flour, milk, white pepper, ketchup, lemon. 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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