Why it works: Lobster and lettuce work together. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 411 recipes. Both carry octanal, which smells fat, soap. The science ↓
Lobster Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the lobsters
Plunge lobsters into boiling water with added salt.
Boil small lobsters for 25 minutes and large lobsters for 30 minutes.
Once cold, remove lobsters from shells and cut into large pieces.
Assemble the salad
Wash and chill lettuce leaves.
Combine 1/3 lettuce with 2/3 lobster and mix.
Cover with Dressing No. 2.
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.
-
Lobster + lettucetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together411 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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, whose firm texture holds up in large pieces.
- Lettuce
- Adds crisp texture and fresh bulk that balances the rich lobster.
The step that matters
Boiling the lobsters for the stated time. Overcooking makes lobster meat tough and rubbery, because high heat squeezes out moisture and tightens the proteins. Size matters, so small and large lobsters need different times.
“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.
More lobster salad recipes
You might also like
Lobster Sauce174 recipes
Lobster Croquettes99 recipes
Creamy Lettuce Soup8 recipes
Lettuce Soup8 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.