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Lobster Au Gratin

Lobster au gratin is a lobster dish baked with a breadcrumb and butter topping.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Lobster Au Gratin

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. Split the lobster in half without breaking the shell.

  2. Carefully remove and mince the lobster flesh, seasoning it with parsley, nutmeg, salt, and cayenne pepper.

Make the filling

  1. Mix the flour with the milk and boil for a few minutes.

  2. Stir in the seasoned lobster mixture and the strained lemon juice, then remove from heat to cool.

  3. Stir in the beaten egg yolk.

Bake and serve

  1. Divide the mixture between the lobster shells, cover with breadcrumbs, and place butter on top.

  2. Brown under a grill or in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C).

  3. Serve on a napkin, garnished with lemon slices and anchovies.

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. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Forms the main body of the dish and provides its sweet, delicate meat.
Flour
Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce that holds the filling together.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the sauce, giving it creaminess.
Egg yolk
Enriches the sauce and helps bind it as it sets.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crisp, golden crust on top when browned.
Butter
Adds fat that helps the topping brown and gives richness.

The step that matters

Stir in the beaten egg yolk. Egg yolk thickens when heated but can curdle or scramble if the mixture is too hot. Letting the sauce cool slightly before adding it keeps the filling smooth and creamy.

“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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