Name: Steamed Oysters
Ingredients: oysters; butter; coarse sea salt; black pepper

Why it works: Oyster and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and 8,184 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

Steamed Oysters

Ingredients

oysters
butter
coarse sea salt
black pepper

Directions

Heat a covered dish thoroughly.
Open, wash, and drain the oysters.
Place the oysters in a shallow pan and put it in the steamer.
Cover and steam over boiling water until the oysters are puffed and curled, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the oysters to a hot dish.
Add butter, salt, and pepper at the table or in the kitchen.
Alternatively, steam the oysters in their shells after washing them well.
Place the shells in the steamer over boiling water, cover, and steam until the shells open easily.

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.

Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together8,184 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Oyster + peppertop 22% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together7,663 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).