Why it works: Lettuce and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,356 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Lobster Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lobster
Cut the lobster into dice and season with coarse sea salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
Let the seasoned lobster stand for 1 hour.
Prepare the lettuce
Separate and wash the leaves from a crisp head of lettuce.
Soak the lettuce leaves in ice water for 30 minutes.
Dress and serve
Season the mayonnaise with 1 teaspoon of mustard, 1 teaspoon of salt, and ¼ teaspoon of mixed pepper.
Mix half the dressing with the lobster.
At serving time, shake off excess water from the lettuce and arrange 2 or 3 leaves together in the form of a nest on a large dish or individual plates.
Spoon a tablespoon of the lobster mixture into each shell and top with a teaspoon of dressing.
Alternatively, tear the lettuce into small pieces and mix with the lobster, using one-third as much lettuce as lobster, garnishing the dish with whole leaves.
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.
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.
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Lettuce + mustardtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,356 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + lettucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,037 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lemon + lettucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,559 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main meaty texture and flavor of the salad.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the lobster and balances the rich dressing.
- Crisp head of lettuce
- Supplies crisp texture and a cool, fresh base for the lobster.
- Mayonnaise
- Adds fat and creaminess that binds the lobster into a rich dressing.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavor that cuts through the richness of the mayonnaise.
The step that matters
Shake off excess water from the lettuce at serving time. Lettuce leaves soaked in water hold surface moisture that thins the dressing and makes the leaves limp, so they must be dried just before serving to stay crisp and to keep the dressing thick.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, pepper, lettuce, mustard):
- Limefits better
- Lemonthe original
- Avocadofits about as well
- Cherryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, pepper, lettuce, mustard. 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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