Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Lobster Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Take two large boiled lobsters.
Extract all the meat from the shell.
Cut the meat into very small pieces.
Cut up the lettuce as small as possible.
Dress and serve
Make a dressing as for a chicken-salad, with the yolks of nine hard-boiled eggs, half a pint of sweet oil, half a pint of vinegar, a gill of mustard, a teaspoonful of cayenne, and a teaspoonful of salt.
Mix all well together with a wooden spoon.
Pour the dressing over the lobster and lettuce.
Mix it very well.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Lobster | 100g cooked | 98 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Mustard | 1 tsp (5g) yellow | 3 |
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.
-
Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Mustard + lobstertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together394 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
-
Vinegar + lobstertop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together692 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Lobster + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,484 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
-
Mustard + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,210 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Egg yolks thicken and emulsify the dressing so it clings to the lobster and lettuce.
- Sweet oil
- Gives the dressing its richness and carries the flavour through the salad.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness of the oil.
- Mustard
- Helps hold the oil and vinegar together as a stable emulsion.
- Lobster
- Provides the main meat, with its sweet flavour and tender texture.
The step that matters
Mix the dressing thoroughly through the salad. The dressing is an emulsion of oil, vinegar and egg yolk that can separate if poorly combined. Mixing it very well spreads it evenly over the lobster and lettuce so every bite is seasoned and coated.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, lobster, egg):
- Mustardthe original
- Cucumberfits about as well
- Capsicumfits less well
- Horseradishfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, lobster, egg. 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.
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