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Lobster in Cases

A baked lobster dish served in scallop shells with a creamy sauce and bread crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Sherry and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,209 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Lobster in Cases

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the lobster

  1. Remove lobster meat from shell and cut into small cubes, reserving the coral.

Make the filling

  1. Make a white sauce by melting 3 tablespoons butter, adding flour, milk, salt, pepper, and cayenne.

  2. In an omelet pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter, add lobster cubes, and cook until heated.

  3. Add Sherry wine and brandy, cooking for 2 minutes.

  4. Stir in slightly beaten egg yolks diluted with cream, then add the white sauce.

Bake and serve

  1. Transfer to buttered ramekin dishes or scallop shells.

  2. Sprinkle with reserved coral, then with buttered bread crumbs.

  3. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until slightly browned, being careful not to overcook.

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. Sherry + brandytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

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

  3. Wine + brandytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,427 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Butter + winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

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 meaty texture and flavor of the dish.
Butter
Adds richness and carries flavor, and browns the sauce's surface when baked.
Flour
Thickens the milk into a white sauce that holds the filling together.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the white sauce, giving it a smooth, creamy body.
Egg yolks
Enrich the filling and help thicken it with gentle heat.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the filling smooth and tender.

The step that matters

Bake until just slightly browned. Egg yolks set when heated, so overbaking can turn the creamy filling grainy, dry, or rubbery. Pulling it from the oven once lightly browned keeps it tender.

“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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