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Fricassee of Lobster and Mushrooms

A savory lobster and mushroom fricassee made with stock, roux, sherry, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Lobster and mushroom work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and 178 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Make the stock

  1. Heat the stock with the minced ham, paprika, salt, and chopped onion.

  2. Boil for 10 minutes and strain the mixture.

  3. Thicken the strained stock with the brown roux.

Cook and serve

  1. Add the lobster pieces and mushrooms to the thickened stock.

  2. Cook for 30 minutes in a saucepan set over boiling water.

  3. Add the sherry after transferring the fricassee to a deep 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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Lobster + mushroomtop 13% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together178 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Mushroom + sherrytop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,176 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).

  3. Veal + mushroomtop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,446 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  4. Ham + sherrytop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  5. Onion + mushroomtop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together10,619 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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, delicate flavor that the sauce carries.
Brown roux
Thickens the stock into a body-rich sauce that clings to the lobster and mushrooms.
Mushrooms
Add earthy flavor and a tender, meaty texture to the fricassee.
Veal or chicken stock
Forms the liquid base, supplying savory depth for the sauce.
Sherry
Adds acidity and aromatic richness that brightens the finished sauce.

The step that matters

Thickening the stock with the brown roux. Roux must be whisked smoothly into hot stock so it disperses without lumps. Starch gelatinizes as the sauce heats, so the sauce thickens evenly only when the roux is fully dispersed before simmering.

Flavor stand-ins for the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, veal, ham, onion, mushroom, sherry):

  1. Thymebetter flavor fit
  2. Garlicbetter flavor fit
  3. Celerybetter flavor fit
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, veal, ham, onion, mushroom, sherry. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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