Why it works: Pepper and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Stewed Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Take the meat from a boiled lobster, cut it up small and put it into a stewpan with just enough water to keep it from burning and to make the gravy ; let it simmer five minutes, add a teaspoonful good butter, salt and pepper to taste, heat to boiling and serve hot.
LOBSTER CROQUETTES. To the meat of a well-boiled lobster, chopped fine, add pepper, salt, and mace if liked ; mix with this one-quarter as much bread crumbs, well rubbed, as you have meat ; make it into pointed balls, with two tablespoonfuls of melted butter; roll these in beaten eggs, then in cracker dust, and fry in butter or sweet lard. Serve dry and hot and garnish with crisp parsley. This is a delicious supper dish or entree at dinner.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Mace | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + macetop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,405 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper):
- Parsleyfits better
- Sagefits better
- Thymefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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