Name: Stewed Lobster
Ingredients: lobster flesh, brain, and coral; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 tablespoon vinegar; ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Why it works: Vinegar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Stewed Lobster

Ingredients

lobster flesh, brain, and coral
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vinegar
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

Combine the lobster flesh, brain, and coral in a saucepan.
Add the butter, vinegar, and cayenne pepper.
Heat thoroughly over medium heat until warmed through.

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.

Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,609 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,513 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Lobster + vinegartop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together692 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster flesh, brain, and coral: Forms the main body of the dish and carries its rich, briny flavour.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, giving the lobster a smooth, moist texture as it warms.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the rich lobster and balances its sweetness.

“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.