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Smothered Lobster

Smothered Lobster is lobster squares baked in gravy, garnished with parsley and served with toast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Chicken and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,314 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Smothered Lobster

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Place the lobster squares in a dripping pan.

Bake and serve

  1. Cover the lobster with gravy.

  2. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

  3. Garnish with parsley and serve with toast.

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. Chicken + parsleytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,314 recipes

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

  2. Lobster + parsleytop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together890 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

  3. Lobster + chickentop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together168 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Forms the main substance of the dish, providing the meat that is cooked and served.
Gravy
Adds moisture and savory flavor, keeping the lobster from drying out in the oven.

The step that matters

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Lobster cooks quickly and turns firm and rubbery if overbaked. Watching the time keeps the meat tender while the gravy heats through.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, chicken):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Gingerfits better
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, chicken. 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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