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Stuffed Lobster

A lobster filling of butter, flour, onion, milk, eggs, and seasonings baked in lobster shells.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Lobster and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,095 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Stuffed Lobster

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the sauce

  1. Blend the butter and flour in a saucepan.

  2. Add the grated onion and milk; cook until thickened.

Fill and bake

  1. Stir in the lobster meat, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne, salt and beaten eggs.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. Spoon the mixture into lobster shells.

  4. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, grated cheese, and dot with butter.

  5. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until browned.

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. Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

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

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 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

Butter
Enriches the roux and adds richness and browning on the topping.
Flour
Thickens the milk into a smooth white sauce that holds the filling together.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the sauce, giving it body and a creamy texture.
Lobster meat
Provides the main filling, adding sweet flavor and tender texture.
Eggs
Set when heated, binding the filling so it holds its shape in the shells.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden crust on top of the filling as it bakes.

The step that matters

Bring the mixture to a boil. Eggs are added before this step, and they can curdle or scramble if overheated. Bring the mixture just to a boil and remove it from heat promptly so the filling stays smooth and set rather than grainy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, milk, lobster, meat, sauce, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, milk, lobster, meat, sauce, pepper. 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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