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Deviled Lobster

A lobster dish where the meat is seasoned, stewed, and combined with melted butter and coral sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 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 ↓

Deviled Lobster

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lobster

  1. Remove all the meat from the boiled lobster, reserving the coral.

  2. Season the lobster meat with mustard, cayenne, coarse sea salt, and table sauce.

Cook and finish

  1. Stew the mixture in a covered saucepan with just enough hot water to prevent burning.

  2. Rub the coral smooth, adding vinegar until it is thin enough to pour easily.

  3. Stir the coral into the saucepan before the mixture boils.

  4. Add the butter and allow it to boil once more before removing from heat to avoid toughening the meat.

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. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

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

  4. Mustard + saucetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,120 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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
Provides the main protein, whose texture firms and toughens if overcooked.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, rounding out the seasoned mixture.
Coral (in the method)
Adds rich flavour and colour and thickens the sauce when stirred in.

The step that matters

Removing from heat after adding the butter. Lobster meat is protein-based, and prolonged boiling causes the proteins to tighten and turn tough and dry. Holding the mixture just long enough to bring it back to a boil, then taking it off the heat, keeps the meat tender.

Swap the mustard

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

  1. Mustardthe original
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Shallotfits less well
  4. Horseradishfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, butter, pepper, sauce, vinegar. 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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