Name: Lobster Soup, or Bisque
Ingredients: three pounds of veal boiled slowly in as much water as will cover; three quarts of the veal broth; two quarts of oysters; one quart of milk; two tablespoonfuls of butter; one gallon of oysters in their own liquor; one quart of rich milk to the liquor; an ounce of butter; a pint of hot water; a pinch of mace; a pint of clam-juice; a teaspoonful of flour in cold milk; one fine middle-sized lobster; one teacupful of hot water; four eggs; two good tablespoonfuls of butter; two dozen hard shell clams very fine; four cloves; one allspice; three half-pints of milk in a saucepan; mace; cayenne; salt; pepper; cloves; allspice

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + clamtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together840 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Oyster + clamtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together111 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,184 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

What each ingredient does

Lobster: Provides the main meat and sweet flavour of the bisque.
Veal: Its slow-boiled broth gives the bisque a rich, savoury body.
Butter: Rolled in flour, it thickens the soup and adds richness.
Egg yolk: Binds the lobster and coral mixture so it holds together as force meat balls.
Coral (in the method): Rubbed through a sieve, it colours and thickens the bisque.

The step that matters

Simmer gently without boiling. Once the force meat balls and butter-flour are added, a rolling boil can toughen the egg-bound balls and break the thickened broth, so keep it at a gentle simmer.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, oyster, milk, butter, clam, flour, lobster):

Nutmegfits better
Parsleyfits better
Capersfits better
Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, oyster, milk, butter, clam, flour, lobster. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Oyster	6 medium (84g)	81
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cayenne	1 tsp (1.8g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Veal	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0
Liquor	not in our table	0
Mace	not in our table	0

Lobster Soup, or Bisque