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Buttered Lobster

A lobster dish cooked in butter, cream, wine, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 ↓

Buttered Lobster

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the lobster meat into pieces the size of a bean.

Cook

  1. Put the lobster meat into a saucepan with the vinegar, white wine, and seasonings.

  2. Bring to a boil, then add the butter and cream.

  3. Stir constantly for 10 minutes.

  4. Wash the coral thoroughly, mix it with the tomalley, and add to the mixture.

Serve

  1. Serve in a hot covered dish.

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. Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Vinegar + white winetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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 flavour, and its meat sets firm as it cooks.
Cream
Adds richness and a smooth, thick body to the sauce.
Butter
Adds fat for a rich mouthfeel and a silky finish to the sauce.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma that balance the richness of the cream and butter.
Vinegar
Adds sharpness that cuts through the fat and brightens the flavour.

The step that matters

Stirring constantly while the cream and butter are added. Cream and butter can separate or scorch on direct heat if left unattended. Constant stirring keeps the emulsion smooth and prevents the milk solids from catching on the pan bottom.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, cream, butter, vinegar, white wine, pepper):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Parsleyfits about as well
  3. Garlicfits about as well
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, cream, butter, vinegar, white wine, pepper. 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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