Why it works: Mustard and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,356 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Hot Lobster Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lobster
Boil the lobster in a large pot of boiling water for about 20 minutes until the shell is red.
Cool the lobster until it can be handled, then remove the shell and save the coral, green fat, and flesh.
Discard the intestine, membranous sack, and soft fins.
Cut the lobster flesh into 1-inch pieces.
Prepare the garnish and lettuce
Boil the eggs hard, remove the shells, and cut them into quarters.
Wash and dry the lettuce, cut it into quarters, and keep it cold.
Make and serve
In a saucepan, combine butter, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, cayenne, and the lobster; heat until hot.
Arrange the lettuce in a salad bowl, pour the hot lobster mixture over it, garnish with hard-boiled eggs, and serve immediately.
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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Mustard + lettucetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,356 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + lettucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,037 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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 its flesh becomes tender when gently heated in the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, carrying flavor and giving the warm dressing a smooth texture.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavor and balances the richness of the butter.
- Prepared mustard
- Adds sharp flavor and helps emulsify the butter and vinegar into a cohesive dressing.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Add creamy texture and mild richness as a garnish alongside the warm lobster.
The step that matters
Heating the lobster mixture. Overheating the butter and vinegar can break the emulsion and toughen the lobster flesh, so heat only until hot and serve immediately.
Swap the lettuce
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, butter, vinegar, mustard, pepper, egg):
- Horseradishfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Lettucethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, butter, vinegar, mustard, pepper, egg. 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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