Name: Plain Lobster Salad
Ingredients: 1 lobster; 6 ounces mixed salad greens; 1 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon pepper; 1 tablespoon chopped tarragon or chervil (or parsley); 4 tablespoons oil; 2 tablespoons common vinegar (or 1½ tablespoons French vinegar)

Why it works: Pepper and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,399 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Plain Lobster Salad

Ingredients

1 lobster
6 ounces mixed salad greens
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon chopped tarragon or chervil (or parsley)
4 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons common vinegar (or 1½ tablespoons French vinegar)

Directions

Prepare

Wash the salad greens well and dry them in a cloth.
Cut the lobster into pieces and place it in a salad bowl.

Dress and serve

Sprinkle the lobster with salt, pepper, and chopped herbs.
Add the oil and vinegar, then gently stir with a wooden knife and fork.
Serve immediately.

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.

Pepper + tarragontop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,399 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,547 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Lobster + tarragontop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together109 recipes

Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Lobster + vinegartop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together692 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster: Forms the main protein of the salad, giving it substance and a sweet, delicate flavour.
Oil: Coats the lobster and greens, adding richness and carrying flavour through the salad.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the richness of the oil.
Mixed salad greens: Provide a crisp, fresh base that contrasts with the tender lobster.

The step that matters

Add the oil and vinegar, then gently stir with a wooden knife and fork. Lobster meat is delicate and breaks apart easily under vigorous mixing. Gentle folding keeps the pieces intact and coats them evenly with the dressing.

“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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Plain Lobster Salad