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Lobster Cutlets

Lobster cutlets are breaded lobster pieces fried until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,062 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Lobster Cutlets

Ingredients

Directions

Make the lobster base

  1. Combine the lobster, parsley, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne in a bowl.

  2. Blend butter and flour in a saucepan.

  3. Add milk and cook until thickened.

  4. Remove from heat and stir in the beaten egg yolks.

  5. Mix the egg yolk mixture with the lobster mixture.

Shape and coat

  1. Chill the mixture on ice for several hours.

  2. Form the chilled mixture into cutlets.

  3. Dip each cutlet in the egg whites mixed with warm water.

  4. Roll the dipped cutlets in cracker crumbs.

Fry and serve

  1. Fry the cutlets until golden brown.

  2. Serve on a hot dish, garnished with a small claw in each cutlet.

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. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,675 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Provides the main flavor and the bulk of the cutlet filling.
Flour
Thickens the butter and milk into a binding sauce that holds the cutlet together.
Egg yolks
Enrich the thickened sauce and help bind the mixture when set.
Egg whites
Form a coating that helps the cracker crumbs stick and crisp when fried.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the sauce, adding moisture and softness to the filling.
Cracker crumbs
Give the cutlets a crisp, golden outer crust when fried.

The step that matters

Chill the mixture thoroughly before shaping. A well-chilled mixture firms up so the cutlets hold their shape and do not fall apart in the frying oil.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, nutmeg, butter, flour, milk, egg):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Capersfits about as well
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Tarragonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, nutmeg, butter, flour, milk, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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