Name: Fried Oysters
Ingredients: fine, large oysters; crackers, rolled to a powder; salt; pepper; 2 eggs; lard for frying; parsley for garnish

Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 34,122 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Fried Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Drain the oysters on a towel.
Season the cracker crumbs with salt and pepper.
Beat the eggs in a bowl.
Dip each oyster in the egg, then coat with the seasoned cracker crumbs.
Heat lard in a frying pan until boiling.
Fry the oysters until they are a pretty brown.
Place on a dish and garnish with parsley.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together4,103 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together18,765 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Oyster + peppertop 22% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together7,663 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Oyster + parsleytop 22% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together2,211 recipes

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