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Lobster Croquettes

A dish of lobster and potato mixture formed into small patties, coated in egg and breadcrumbs, and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Lobster Croquettes

Why it works: Potato and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,855 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Lobster Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Combine lobster meat, mashed potato, beaten egg yolks, butter, and minced parsley in a bowl.

  2. In a saucepan, heat cream until boiling.

  3. Rub butter and flour together, then add to boiling cream.

  4. Stir in beaten yolks and cook for 2 minutes.

  5. Remove from heat and mix in the lobster mixture until well combined.

Shape and fry

  1. Allow the mixture to cool, then form into small chops.

  2. Roll each chop in beaten egg, then coat with bread crumbs.

  3. Fry in boiling oil or lard until golden brown.

Serve

  1. Garnish with parsley and serve with a cream sauce.

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.

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.

  1. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

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

  2. Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,050 recipes

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

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,675 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, 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 meat
Provides the main flavor and the bulk of the filling.
Mashed potato
Adds body and moisture so the filling holds together when shaped.
Egg yolks
Bind the filling and enrich it, helping it set when cooked.
Flour
Thickens the cream so the mixture becomes firm enough to shape.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, forming a thick base for the filling.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden crust during frying.

The step that matters

Cooling before shaping. If the mixture is still warm or loose, it will not hold its shape and may crack or spread in the hot oil. Cooling lets the starch and egg proteins firm up so the chops keep their form while frying.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, meat, potato, egg, butter, flour, cream):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Capersfits about as well
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Tarragonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, meat, potato, egg, butter, flour, cream. 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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