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Scalloped Oysters

Scalloped oysters are baked with cream, oyster liquor, butter, bread crumbs, salt, paprika, and oysters.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Scalloped Oysters

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

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

  2. Mix the salt, paprika, and bread crumbs together.

  3. Melt the butter and stir it into the bread crumb mixture.

Layer and bake

  1. Layer one-third of the crumbs in a small baking dish.

  2. Add half of the oysters on top of the crumbs.

  3. Repeat the layers, finishing with crumbs on top.

  4. Pour the cream and oyster liquor over the layers.

  5. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until golden.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,545 recipes

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

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Solid oysters
Provide the main seafood flavor and tender, briny filling in the dish.
Stale bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and form the soft, layered body that holds the oysters together.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture that soaks into the crumbs and sets during baking.
Oyster liquor
Adds concentrated oyster flavor and moisture to the layers.
Butter
Adds fat that coats the crumbs and helps them brown in the oven.

The step that matters

Pour the cream and oyster liquor over the layers.. The liquid must reach the crumbs evenly so they soften and absorb moisture without turning soggy. Pouring it over the finished layers lets it soak down through the dish during baking.

“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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