Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Lobster Newburg
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Stir in the flour, salt, and paprika until well combined.
Gradually add the milk, stirring until the mixture is smooth.
Cook and serve
Add the lobster pieces, cover, and place a hot water pan underneath.
Cook for five minutes, adding more seasoning if necessary.
If desired, stir in the sherry before serving.
Serve the mixture on hot buttered toast.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Milk + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,479 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce with fat and gives it a rich, savoury flavour.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth, creamy sauce as it cooks.
- Lobster
- Provides the main meaty texture and sweet seafood flavour.
- Rich milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, giving it body and creaminess.
- Sherry
- Adds a light acidity and aromatic depth to the finished sauce.
The step that matters
Gradually add the milk, stirring until smooth. Adding liquid all at once to flour and butter can form lumps. Adding it slowly while stirring lets the starch disperse evenly, so the sauce thickens smooth.
“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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