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Oysters a LA Mode

A fried oyster dish coated in breadcrumb, served with parsley garnish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Oysters a LA Mode

Ingredients

Directions

Make the oyster sauce base

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour.

  2. Add the oyster liquor, cayenne, anchovy sauce, nutmeg, and milk. Stir until smooth and thick.

  3. Remove from heat and mix in the gravy, beaten egg yolks, and lemon juice. Stir until the eggs are set.

  4. Add the oysters and heat until hot. Spread the mixture on a plate about 1.5 inches thick and let it cool.

Shape and fry

  1. On a board, sprinkle bread crumbs. Shape the cooled mixture into balls, coat with egg and bread crumbs.

  2. Fry the balls in hot fat until crisp and pale. Serve piled on a napkin and garnish with fried 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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

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

  4. Oyster + anchovytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together603 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 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

Butter
Enriches the base and carries the flour into a smooth roux for thickening.
Flour
Thickens the liquid into a smooth, sliceable mixture that holds its shape.
Milk
Adds liquid that, with the flour, makes a thick, creamy base.
Egg yolks
Set with gentle heat to bind the mixture and help it hold together when shaped.
Oysters
Provide the main flavour and are heated through within the mixture.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden outer coating when fried.

The step that matters

Letting the mixture cool before shaping. The mixture must be cool and firm enough to hold its shape. If it is still warm and soft, the balls will slump and the coating will not stick well.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, oyster, pepper, anchovy, sauce, milk):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Parsleyfits about as well
  3. Nutmegthe original
  4. Celeryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, oyster, pepper, anchovy, sauce, milk. 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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