Why it works: Lobster and cream match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,050 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Heat the cream and sherry in a double boiler or chafing dish.
Add the lobster to the heated mixture.
Remove several tablespoons of the liquid.
Mix the removed liquid with the flour until smooth.
Stir the flour mixture back into the lobster mixture.
Cool for about 2 minutes.
Season with salt and red pepper to taste.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Lobster + creamtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,050 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sherry + peppertop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,107 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
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Cream + sherrytop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,038 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Sherry + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together2,468 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + peppertop 13% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together21,446 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and pepper share little aroma chemistry, yet 21,446 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Lobster
- Forms the main body of the dish and provides its flavor and texture.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, giving the sauce a smooth, rich body.
- Flour
- Thickens the liquid into a smooth sauce when mixed in and heated.
- Sherry
- Adds acidity and aromatic depth to the cream sauce.
The step that matters
Mixing the flour into the liquid. Flour lumps if stirred straight into hot liquid. Mixing it first with some of the warm liquid until smooth lets the starch disperse evenly, so the sauce thickens without clumps.
“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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