Why it works: Lobster and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,050 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Lobster a LA Neuberg
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the lobster and butter in a chafing dish and stir until the butter is melted and the lobster is heated through.
Mix the sherry with the cream and egg yolks.
Pour this mixture over the lobster.
Cook until the sauce thickens to a cream-like consistency.
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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Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,050 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Meat + lobstertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together909 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Meat + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,594 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main protein and sweet, delicate flavour of the dish.
- Butter
- Adds richness and carries flavour while gently warming the lobster.
- Cream
- Supplies moisture and fat so the sauce becomes smooth and rich.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce as they heat, giving it a cream-like consistency.
- Sherry
- Adds acidity and aromatic depth that balances the richness of the cream.
The step that matters
Cook until the sauce thickens to a cream-like consistency. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat, as their proteins coagulate. If the heat is too high, the yolks can scramble and curdle, so the sauce should be stirred and heated slowly.
“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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