Why it works: Cream and anchovy work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 798 recipes. Both carry octanal, which smells fat, soap. The science ↓
Lobster Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Gather the ingredients
Add 1 oz butter and 2 tablespoons cream.
Add 4 oz flour and 2 teaspoons anchovy essence.
Add 1 pint fish stock, salt, and pepper.
Add 1 tin lobster.
Make the sauce
Melt the butter and stir in the flour smoothly.
Add water and boil.
Season and add the anchovy and cream. Mix well.
Finish the sauce
Take the pan from the fire.
Cut the lobster into neat pieces.
Stir into the sauce.
Set at the side of the fire to warm through, but do not boil.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Anchovy | 100g | 210 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Cream + anchovytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together798 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
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds fat and richness, and forms the base with the flour for the sauce.
- Flour (in the method)
- Thickens the sauce when cooked in melted butter.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture to the sauce.
- Anchovy essence
- Adds a savoury, salty depth of flavour to the sauce.
- Lobster (in the method)
- Provides the main shellfish flavour and tender pieces of meat.
The step that matters
Set at the side of the fire to warm through, but do not boil.. Once the cream and lobster are in, boiling can cause the cream to separate and the lobster to become tough and rubbery. Gentle heat warms them through while keeping the sauce smooth.
“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.
More lobster sauce recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.