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Crab, Mock

A cheese-based mock crab made with Gloucester or Cheshire cheese, vinegar, salad oil, mustard, potted shrimps, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Crab, Mock

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. Pound the cheese in a mortar until smooth.

  2. Add vinegar, salad oil, mixed mustard, salt, and cayenne; mix well.

  3. Fold in the potted shrimps until combined.

Serve

  1. Serve in a crab shell and garnish with parsley.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Mustard + parsleytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,588 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,805 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Gloucester or cheshire cheese
Provides the main body, rich flavor, and creamy texture of the spread.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the rich cheese and balances its flavor.
Salad oil
Adds fat that loosens the cheese and gives a smoother, softer texture.
Mixed mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavor that cuts through the richness of the cheese.
Potted shrimps
Supply the seafood flavor and tender texture that make this a crab-style dish.

The step that matters

Pounding the cheese until smooth. Cheese left in lumps will not blend evenly with the oil and vinegar, so the spread can turn grainy or uneven. Working it until smooth before adding liquids helps it emulsify into a uniform texture.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, vinegar, mustard, pepper, shrimp):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, vinegar, mustard, pepper, shrimp. 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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