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Oyster Pates

A puff pastry cup filled with a creamy oyster mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Oyster Pates

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the pastry

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Roll out the puff pastry and cut a large round with a cookie cutter.

  3. Cut a smaller round from the center to create a ring.

  4. Repeat to make two more rings.

  5. Stack the three rings on top of the large round to form a cup.

  6. Bake until golden brown.

  7. Brush with the beaten egg.

  8. Return to the oven for 1 minute to glaze.

Make the oyster filling

  1. In a saucepan, bring the oysters and their liquor to a boil.

  2. Add the butter, cream, salt, and pepper.

  3. Cut the oysters into three pieces.

  4. Add them to the mixture.

Assemble

  1. Fill the baked pastry cups with the oyster mixture.

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.

  1. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  3. Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,103 recipes

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

  4. Oyster + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,886 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Puff pastry
Forms the flaky, layered cup that holds the filling and rises and browns in the oven.
Oysters
Provide the main savory flavor and tender texture of the filling.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the filling.
Cream
Thickens the filling slightly and adds smoothness and body.
Beaten egg
Gives the pastry a glossy, golden-brown surface when brushed on before baking.

The step that matters

Bringing the oysters and liquor to a boil. Oysters overcook quickly and turn rubbery when boiled hard, so they should be heated only until just cooked through and then combined gently with the butter and cream.

“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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