Name: Oysters Baked
Ingredients: fat pork, sliced thinly; oysters, drained; white pepper; sliced lemons, for serving

Why it works: Pork and oyster are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,255 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

Oysters Baked

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

fat pork, sliced thinly
oysters, drained
white pepper
sliced lemons, for serving

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Cut the fat pork into pieces the size of the oysters.
Lay the pork pieces in a sheet-iron dripping pan.
Place a drained oyster on each piece of pork.
Dust with white pepper and cover with another piece of pork.
Bake until the pork is crisp and light brown.
Serve immediately on a hot dish with sliced lemons.

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.

Pork + oystertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,255 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
White pepper + lemontop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,658 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Pork + lemontop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,786 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Oyster + lemontop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,942 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pork + white peppertop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together791 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl butyrate (fruity, apple).