Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Broiled Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and broil
Cut the tail of the lobster in half.
Rub sweet oil over the meat and broil until cooked.
Finish and serve
Brush melted butter over the lobster meat and add lemon juice and cayenne pepper.
Place the meat back into the shell and serve with broiled tomatoes and a baked potato.
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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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Lobster + peppertop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,247 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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 tender meat is cooked through under the broiler.
- Sweet oil
- Coats the meat so it stays moist and browns evenly under high heat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the meat as it is brushed over the cooked lobster.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich flavour of the butter and lobster.
The step that matters
Broil until cooked. Lobster meat turns firm and rubbery when overcooked, while undercooked meat is unsafe to eat. Watching the meat closely under the broiler helps it reach a tender, fully cooked state.
“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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