Why it works: Tarragon and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 602 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
To Pickle Oysters
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Poach the oysters
Put the oysters in a saucepan with their liquor over medium heat.
Do not let them boil.
Remove from heat when the oysters are white and firm.
Remove the gills.
Strain the liquor.
Make the pickling liquor
Combine it with twice its quantity of good vinegar in a stone jar.
Add mushroom ketchup, bay leaves, tarragon, and shallots to the jar.
Stew the mixture in a 300°F (150°C) oven for three hours.
Pot and seal
Once cooled, place the oysters in a jar with a little pounded sugar, peppercorns, allspice, and bay leaves.
Fill the jar with vinegar.
Cork it.
Secure it with bladder.
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.
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Tarragon + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together602 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Tarragon + allspicetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together127 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Mushroom + shallottop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,982 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Shallot + allspicetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together386 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Vinegar + tarragontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 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
- Oysters
- Provide the main body and flavour of the pickle once poached and preserved.
- Good vinegar
- Acts as the preserving liquid and supplies the sharp, acidic bite.
- Mushroom ketchup
- Adds deep savoury, umami flavour to the pickling liquor.
- Shallots
- Contribute a mild aromatic sharpness that mellows during the long stew.
- Pounded sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with a touch of sweetness.
The step that matters
Keep the oysters from boiling. Boiling toughens oyster flesh and makes it rubbery, so they should only be heated gently until they turn white and firm.
Flavor stand-ins for the allspice
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, vinegar, mushroom, ketchup, tarragon, shallot, sugar):
- Capersbetter flavor fit
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Marjoramabout as good a flavor fit
- Allspicethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, vinegar, mushroom, ketchup, tarragon, shallot, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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