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Lobster Souflee

A steamed lobster soufflé made with lobster, eggs, butter, flour, milk, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Hamilton, Margaret · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Sauce and anchovy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Lobster Souflee

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lobster

  1. Put lobster in tin.

Make the base

  1. Add 1 lb butter.

  2. Add 1 lb flour and 1 pint milk.

  3. Make a white sauce with butter, flour, and milk; cook well.

  4. Add half the sauce to the finely chopped lobster, yolks of eggs, salt, and pepper.

Add the eggs and seasonings

  1. Add 3 yolks of eggs.

  2. Add 4 whites of eggs.

  3. Add 1 dessertspoon vinegar.

  4. Add 1 dessertspoon Worcester sauce, 1 dessertspoon anchovy sauce, pepper, salt, cayenne, lemon juice.

  5. Add stiffly-beaten whites.

Steam and serve

  1. Pour into well-greased plain tin with paper outside and above the tin.

  2. Steam one hour.

  3. Add some more milk and 1 dessertspoon anchovy essence.

  4. Serve with anchovy sauce.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

297Calories
36 gProtein
15 gFat
2 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Anchovy100g210
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Saucenot 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 Hamilton, Margaret. 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. Sauce + anchovytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,330 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

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

  4. Anchovy + peppertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Vinegar + anchovytop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,008 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks enrich and bind the mixture, while stiffly-beaten whites lighten it and help it rise.
Flour (in the method)
Thickens the milk and butter into a white sauce that gives the soufflé its body.
Butter (in the method)
Adds richness and fat to the white sauce, softening texture and adding flavour.
Milk (in the method)
Forms the liquid base of the white sauce, giving a smooth, set custard-like body.
Lobster (in the method)
Provides the main flavour and substance of the soufflé.

The step that matters

Add stiffly-beaten whites. Whites must be beaten to stiff peaks and folded in gently. Overmixing deflates the air that lifts the soufflé, so it turns dense instead of light.

“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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