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 Sauce for Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Finely chop all the soft parts of the lobster.
In a saucepan, combine the chopped lobster and cream.
Make the sauce
Thicken the mixture with flour, stirring well.
Add coarse sea salt and a little vinegar to taste.
If desired, add pepper to individual servings.
Heat gently until warmed 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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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Lobster + flourtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,034 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main flavour and the body of the sauce through its soft parts.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture to the sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the cream mixture as it heats, giving the sauce body.
The step that matters
Thicken the mixture with flour, stirring well. Flour must be mixed in thoroughly so it disperses evenly; unstirred flour clumps and leaves lumps. Starch thickens the liquid as it warms, so the sauce should be stirred while the flour is added.
“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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