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 Newburg
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lobster
Cut the lobster meat into pieces the size of a hickory nut.
Make the sauce
In a pan, melt the butter and add the lobster pieces.
Season with salt and pepper.
In a bowl, mix the heavy cream with the beaten egg yolk.
Add the cream mixture to the pan and stir until heated through.
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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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 flavor at the center of the dish.
- Heavy cream
- Adds moisture and a rich, smooth texture to the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor through the lobster pieces.
- Egg yolk
- Thickens the cream gently with heat, giving the sauce body and a silky texture.
The step that matters
Add the cream mixture to the pan and stir until heated through. Egg yolk thickens when heated, but if the mixture gets too hot it can curdle or scramble. Keep the heat gentle and stir constantly so the sauce turns smooth rather than grainy.
“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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