Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Lobster a LA Brochette
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Sprinkle the lobster pieces with salt, cayenne, and mace.
String the lobster and mushrooms onto slender skewers, alternating with 4 pieces of lobster and 3 mushrooms per skewer.
Broil the bacon until crisp.
Cut the toast into slender strips, each over an inch wide.
Cook and serve
Broil the skewers over clear coals, turning often.
Place a slice of bacon on each toast strip, then add a skewer of lobster and mushrooms.
Spread the skewers with a sauce made from butter beaten with lemon juice and minced parsley.
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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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
-
Mushroom + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main meaty texture and sweet flavor of the dish.
- Mushrooms
- Add moisture and juiciness that keep the skewers from drying during broiling.
- Breakfast bacon
- Adds smoky, salty fat that crisps and flavors the toast beneath.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries the lemon and parsley flavors over the skewers.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich lobster and butter.
The step that matters
Broil the skewers over clear coals, turning often.. Lobster is lean and cooks quickly, so frequent turning and close attention prevent the outside from drying or toughening before the center is just cooked through.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, lobster, mushroom, pepper, bread, butter, lemon):
- Thymefits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, lobster, mushroom, pepper, bread, butter, lemon. 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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