Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
45 Oyster Pates
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.
Make the filling
In a saucepan, combine oysters with enough liquor to cover them.
Bring to a boil, skim, and stir in butter, pepper, and salt.
Add cream if desired.
For the filling, combine half the oyster liquor with an equal amount of milk in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil.
Add all the oysters (discarding uncooked liquor) and heat to boiling.
Stir in 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of corn-starch mixed with a little milk.
Boil for 4 minutes, stirring constantly until thickened.
Prepare and bake the pastry
Prepare small tins lined with puff pastry.
Place 3-4 oysters in each tin, depending on size, and cover with pastry.
For open pates, cut pastry into round cakes.
Make the bottom crust less than ½ inch thick and the top crust slightly thicker.
Cut a smaller round from the center of the top crust to create a ring.
Place this on the bottom crust.
Add a second ring to ensure the cavity is deep enough for the oysters.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.
Bake until golden brown.
Brush the top with beaten egg and return to the oven for 3 minutes to glaze.
Serve
Fill the pastry shells with this mixture and serve.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Pepper + corntop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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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
What each ingredient does
- Oysters
- Provide the main filling and their briny flavour.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, rounded flavour to the filling.
- Corn-starch
- Thickens the oyster liquor and milk into a creamy filling.
- Puff pastry
- Forms the flaky, crisp shell that holds the filling.
- Milk
- Makes up the creamy liquid that the cornstarch thickens.
- Egg
- Glazes the top crust, giving it a glossy, browned finish.
The step that matters
Boil the filling for 4 minutes while stirring constantly. Cornstarch only thickens fully when it reaches a boil and stays there. Stopping early leaves a thin, starchy filling, while stirring prevents scorching and lumps on the bottom of the pan.
“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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