Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 34,122 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Little Pigs in Blankets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Season the oysters with pepper and salt.
Wrap each oyster in a very thin slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick.
Cook and serve
Heat a chafing dish until very hot.
Cook the wrapped oysters just long enough to crisp the bacon without burning it.
Serve hot on small pieces of buttered toast.
Garnish with parsley.
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.
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Oyster + peppertop 22% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together7,663 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Oyster + parsleytop 22% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,211 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oysters
- Provide the central filling, cooking quickly to stay tender and moist inside.
- Bacon
- Renders its fat and crisps, adding salt, savoury flavour and crunch around the oyster.
- Buttered toast
- Gives a crisp, buttery base that holds the hot oysters and soaks up their juices.
The step that matters
Cooking the wrapped oysters. Oysters overcook quickly and turn rubbery, while bacon needs enough heat to crisp. Stopping as soon as the bacon crisps keeps the oyster plump and the bacon from burning.
“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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