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 ↓
Deviled Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lobster
Remove all the meat from the boiled lobster, reserving the coral.
Season the lobster meat with mustard, cayenne, salt, and table sauce.
Make the sauce
Rub the coral smooth, adding vinegar until it is thin enough to pour easily, then stir it into the saucepan.
Prepare the dressing before heating the meat, allowing it to boil once before adding the coral.
Cook and finish
Stew the mixture in a covered saucepan with just enough hot water to prevent burning.
Stir in the butter, and once it boils again, remove from heat immediately to avoid toughening the meat.
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.
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Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + saucetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,120 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster meat
- Forms the bulk of the dish and is the main protein that gets gently stewed.
- Coral
- Adds rich flavour and colour to the sauce once rubbed smooth and thinned.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour that balances the richness of the lobster.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a silky, rich mouthfeel to the finished dressing.
The step that matters
Removing the mixture from heat after the butter boils. Prolonged or vigorous boiling toughens delicate protein, so the meat becomes rubbery. Taking the pan off heat as soon as it boils again keeps the lobster tender.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, pepper, sauce, vinegar, butter):
- Mustardthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Shallotfits less well
- Horseradishfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, pepper, sauce, vinegar, butter. 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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