Why it works: Cream and lobster match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,050 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: bread
Directions
Dice 1 boiled lobster into pieces.
Place lobster, a good-sized piece of butter, 1 pint of cream, yolks of 2 eggs, and a wine glass of sherry in a chafing dish.
Stir until butter melts and lobster is heated through.
Mix sherry with cream and egg yolks; pour over lobster.
Cook until thick like cream.
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. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Cream + lobstertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,050 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + eggtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41,958 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Cream + peppertop 13% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together21,446 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Lobster + peppertop 17% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together2,247 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Lobster + eggtop 18% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,473 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cream and pepper share little aroma chemistry, yet 21,446 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Cream
- Forms the rich, liquid base that thickens into a creamy sauce.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks thicken the cream into a custard-like sauce when gently heated.
- Lobster
- Provides the main protein and sweet, delicate flavour of the dish.
The step that matters
Cook until thick like cream. Egg yolks set when heated, but if the heat is too high they scramble and turn grainy. Cooking gently and stirring keeps the sauce smooth while it thickens.
“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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