Why it works: Lobster and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,050 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Lobster a LA Newburg
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lobster
Cut the lobster into small slices using a silver knife.
In a pan, melt the butter and add the lobster.
Cook and finish
Season with salt and a dash of red pepper, then pour in the sherry.
Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
Mix the beaten egg yolks with the cream and pour it over the lobster.
Serve as soon as it boils.
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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Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,050 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Provides the main protein and body of the dish.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the cream sauce as they gently set with heat.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, forming the base of the sauce with the yolks.
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavour, helping to cook the lobster gently in the pan.
- Sherry
- Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the rich sauce.
The step that matters
Serve as soon as it boils. Egg yolks thicken the cream by gentle heat, but if the mixture boils too long it can curdle and turn grainy. Serving promptly keeps the sauce smooth.
“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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