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Pickled Oysters

Pickled oysters preserved in vinegar with cloves and allspice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Pickled Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the oysters

  1. Strain the liquor from the oysters.

  2. Boil the liquor and skim until clear.

  3. Add the oysters to the boiling liquor and let them come to a boil.

  4. Remove the oysters and place them in a jar.

Make the pickle

  1. Take half of the remaining liquor, add vinegar until it tastes sharp, and include the cloves and allspice.

  2. Boil the mixture and pour it hot over the oysters.

  3. Cover the jar and let it stand for two to three days before using.

  4. For quicker use, add a little more vinegar.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Vinegar + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,548 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  3. Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Oyster + allspicetop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together258 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  5. Oyster + vinegartop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,024 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Oysters
Are the main ingredient that is cooked briefly and then preserved in the spiced vinegar.
Vinegar
Provides the sharp acidity that preserves and flavours the oysters.
Cloves
Add warm, aromatic spice to the pickling liquid.
Allspice
Adds warm, aromatic spice to the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Pouring the boiling pickle over the oysters. The oysters are only lightly cooked, so the hot spiced liquid must fully cover them in the jar. Boiling the mixture before pouring helps bring the liquid to a temperature that cooks and sterilises the surface, and covering the jar keeps the oysters submerged while they sit.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, vinegar, allspice):

  1. Clovethe original
  2. Tarragonfits about as well
  3. Thymefits less well
  4. Marjoramfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, vinegar, allspice. 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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