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Lobster Chops or Cutlets

A dish of lobster meat formed into small cutlets, coated in cracker dust and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Lobster Chops or Cutlets

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lobster

  1. Boil the lobster.

  2. Remove the meat and cut it into small, even dice.

  3. Save the coral and green fat.

Make the custard base

  1. In a thick saucepan, melt the butter and flour over medium heat until bubbling.

  2. Gradually stir in the milk or cream.

  3. Add the lobster meat, coral, and fat.

  4. Season with salt and cayenne.

  5. Stir constantly until very hot.

  6. Remove from heat and mix in the yolks of the eggs and sherry or Madeira.

  7. Transfer the mixture to a dish.

  8. Let it cool.

Shape, coat and fry

  1. Once cool, shape the mixture into small chops or cutlets using wet hands.

  2. Coat each chop in cracker dust and set aside.

  3. Heat fat in a frying kettle until smoking.

  4. Beat the eggs until smooth.

  5. Dip the chops into the egg.

  6. Coat again in cracker dust.

  7. Fry the chops in the hot fat until golden brown.

  8. Remove and drain on brown paper.

Garnish and serve

  1. Garnish each chop with a small lobster claw.

  2. Serve with parsley.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,675 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,505 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Provides the main flavour and the tender meat that forms the cutlet.
Butter
Enriches the base and adds richness and flavour to the sauce.
Flour
Thickens the milk into a stable base that holds the lobster together.
Milk or cream
Makes a smooth, creamy binder that sets the mixture when cooled.
Eggs
Bind the cooled mixture and form a coating that helps the crumbs stick.
Sherry or madeira
Adds a fortified wine aroma and subtle sweetness to the lobster filling.

The step that matters

Let the mixture cool fully before shaping. A warm, soft mixture cannot hold its shape and will slump or tear. Cooling lets the starch-thickened base firm up so the chops keep their form in the hot fat.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, butter, flour, milk, pepper, egg, sherry):

  1. Nutmegfits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Cinnamonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, butter, flour, milk, pepper, egg, sherry. 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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