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Oyster Powder

A powdered seasoning made by frying, drying, and grinding oysters.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Oyster Powder

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the oysters

  1. Simmer the oysters in their own liquor for a couple of minutes.

  2. Remove the oysters and drain them on a cloth.

  3. Remove gills from the oysters.

  4. Flour the oysters.

  5. Dip the oysters in egg.

  6. Bread-crumb the oysters.

  7. Fry the oysters in boiling fat until golden brown.

  8. Cut the oysters into thin slices.

  9. Dry the sliced oysters until crisp.

  10. Grind the dried oysters into a fine powder or pack them for sauces.

Make the pickle

  1. Simmer oysters in their liquor with mace, whole pepper, and salt for 10 minutes.

  2. Place oysters in wide-mouthed bottles.

  3. Add an equal quantity of vinegar to the liquor.

  4. Boil the mixture.

  5. Pour the boiled mixture over the oysters.

  6. Add allspice and pounded sugar.

  7. Add brandy when cool.

  8. Cork tightly.

  9. Cover with dammer.

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. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Mace + allspicetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  3. Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,373 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,302 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

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

What each ingredient does

Oysters
Form the main substance, which is fried, dried and ground into the powder.
Dried wheat flour
Forms the first coating that helps the egg and crumbs stick to the oysters.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour of the pickled oysters.
Pounded sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
Brandy
Adds aroma and preserving alcohol to the finished liquor.

The step that matters

Dry the sliced oysters until crisp. Oysters hold a lot of water, so they must be dried fully before grinding. Any remaining moisture stops them turning into a fine, shelf-stable powder and lets them spoil.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, wheat, flour, pepper, vinegar, allspice, sugar. 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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