Name: Lobster Pie
Ingredients: 1 boiled lobster, meat removed from shell; ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt; 1 teaspoon mustard; ¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper; 1 tablespoon vinegar; ¼ pound (1 stick) butter; 2 beaten egg yolks; 2 ounces grated bread crumbs; puff pastry

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Lobster Pie

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the filling

Season lobster meat with salt, mustard, Cayenne pepper, and vinegar.
Beat well in a mortar.
Stir in the butter, beaten egg yolks, and bread crumbs.

Assemble and bake

Make puff pastry and place the lobster mixture inside.
Cover with a lid of pastry decorated with leaves or flowers.
Bake at 300°F (150°C) until golden brown.

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Meat + mustardtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together855 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster meat: Provides the main filling and rich, sweet flavour.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, keeping the filling moist and tender.
Egg yolks: Bind the filling and help it set into a smooth, cohesive texture.
Bread crumbs: Absorb moisture and give the filling body.
Mustard: Adds sharp, pungent flavour that balances the rich lobster.

The step that matters

Bake at 300°F (150°C) until golden brown. Baking at a moderate, steady heat lets the egg yolks set the filling gently without curdling or drying it, while the pastry browns and cooks through. Watching colour ensures the crust is done without overbaking the filling.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, meat, pepper, vinegar, butter, egg, bread):

Capsicumfits about as well
Mustardthe original
Shallotfits about as well
Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, meat, pepper, vinegar, butter, egg, bread. 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.