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To Roast Lobsters

A lobster roasted with butter after a brief boil.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Why it works: Lobster and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,609 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

To Roast Lobsters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Half boil the live lobster in a kettle.

  2. Remove the lobster from the kettle and dry it with a cloth.

Roast

  1. While hot, rub the lobster all over with butter.

  2. Set the lobster before a good fire, basting it with butter.

  3. When it produces a fine froth, it is done.

Serve

  1. Serve with melted butter.

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.

  1. Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Its protein sets as it cooks, giving firm, tender meat that is ready when heated through.
Butter
Adds moisture, richness, and flavour, and helps the shell and surface brown as it roasts.

The step that matters

Judging when the lobster is done. Overcooked lobster becomes tough because its proteins tighten too far, while undercooked meat stays soft and may not be safe. Watch for the froth named in the method.

“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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