Name: Oysters a LA Mode
Ingredients: 2 dozen oysters; 1 pint cream; ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper; 2 teaspoons corn flour; milk (as needed to mix corn flour); coarse sea salt (to taste); 3 ounces bread crumbs; 1 tablespoon vinegar; 2 ounces butter

Why it works: Corn and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and 6,955 recipes mention both. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓

Oysters a LA Mode

Ingredients

Directions

Plump the oysters over low heat in their own liquor, but do not let them boil.
In a separate pot, heat the soup and add cayenne pepper.
Pour the oyster liquor into the soup along with 1 pint of hot cream.
In a small bowl, mix 2 teaspoons of corn flour with a little milk until smooth.
Gradually add the corn flour mixture to the soup, letting it simmer together briefly before adding the cream.
Serve the oysters in a tureen and pour the soup over them.

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.

Corn + milktop 10% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together6,955 recipes

Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together11,466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Pepper + corntop 11% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together5,324 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together2,545 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together6,165 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).