Skip to main content
Main

Menu Xxix

A savoury omelette filled with a mince of lobster in white sauce, from a Victorian cookbook menu.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Kenney-Herbert, A. R. (Arthur Robert), 1840-1916 · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 25 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Ginger and rosemary match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 113 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Menu Xxix

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lobster

  1. Take all the flesh from a small lobster or half a medium-sized one, from four to six ounces being enough.

  2. Make a fine mince of the lobster, rather small than otherwise.

Make the sauce filling

  1. Put a gill of good white sauce into a stewpan.

  2. Stir in the lobster mince.

  3. Heat gently over a low fire without boiling.

  4. Season with salt, Nepaul pepper, and mace.

  5. Finish with a dessert-spoonful of cream.

Cook and serve

  1. Make an omelette of five eggs, as explained for savoury omelette in the Appendix.

  2. Just before turning the omelette out of the pan, quickly spread the lobster mince over the surface.

  3. Dish immediately.

  4. Scatter finely minced parsley over the surface and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

913Calories
30 gProtein
32 gFat
126 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 13 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Rosemary1 tsp dried (1.2g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Syrupnot in our table0
Macenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Kenney-Herbert, A. R. (Arthur Robert), 1840-1916. 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. 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.

  1. Ginger + rosemarytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together113 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

  4. Tomato + rosemarytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together805 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Onion + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,595 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster (in the method)
Provides the main filling flesh, giving the omelette its savoury centre and substance.
Eggs
Set to form the omelette structure that holds the lobster filling.
White sauce
Binds the lobster mince and keeps the filling moist and creamy inside the omelette.
Cream
Adds richness and a smoother, softer texture to the sauce filling.

The step that matters

Spreading the filling just before turning the omelette out. The omelette must be set but still soft enough to hold the warm filling. If it is overcooked it turns dry and cracks, and if the filling is added too early it can make the eggs watery or break the omelette when folded.

Swap the rosemary

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, tomato, ginger, syrup, flour, butter, milk):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Turmericfits better
  4. Rosemarythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, tomato, ginger, syrup, flour, butter, milk. 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.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipesTomato BisqueTomato Bisque61 recipesCream Tomato SoupCream Tomato Soup28 recipes