Why it works: Oyster and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,184 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Grilled Oysters
Ingredients
Directions
Wash the oysters and place them in a colander to drain.
Wipe them lightly with a cloth and put them on ice until ready to cook.
Heat a griddle on high and lightly grease it with hot butter.
Place the oysters close together on the griddle without crowding.
As they brown, turn them with a spoon to avoid piercing and losing the liquor.
Serve in a hot dish with a little butter.
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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Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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