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Baked Lobster in the Shell

Baked lobster in the shell is a dish of lobster topped with a butter, onion, flour, milk, egg, and cayenne dressing, finished with cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Baked Lobster in the Shell

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the lobster

  1. Cook lobsters in boiling water until done, then remove and let cool.

Make the dressing

  1. In a saucepan, melt butter and sauté chopped onion until soft.

  2. Stir in flour and cook for a minute, then gradually add milk, stirring until thickened.

  3. Remove from heat and stir in beaten egg, cayenne pepper, and salt if needed.

  4. Add the green part of the lobster to the dressing once it has cooled.

Bake and serve

  1. Chop lobster meat and place it in a serving dish or back in the shells.

  2. Pour dressing over lobster until moistened, then sprinkle with cracker crumbs.

  3. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes.

  4. Serve in shells on a napkin garnished with parsley.

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.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

Lobsters
Provide the main protein, which turns firm and opaque when cooked through.
Butter
Adds richness and carries the onion flavour into the dressing.
Flour
Thickens the milk into a smooth dressing that holds the lobster together.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the dressing, which thickens as the flour cooks.
Egg
Sets during baking, binding the dressing so it holds its shape.

The step that matters

Thickening the dressing. Cook the flour and butter briefly, then add milk gradually while stirring. This keeps the sauce smooth rather than lumpy and lets it thicken evenly before the egg is added.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, milk, butter, flour, egg, pepper, parsley):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, milk, butter, flour, egg, pepper, parsley. 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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