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 Newberg
Ingredients
Directions
Make the lobster Newberg
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.
Add the salt, paprika, and onion juice; stir to combine.
Once melted, add the lobster meat and cook slowly for 3 minutes.
Stir in the cream, nutmeg, and beaten egg yolks mixed together.
Continue stirring until the mixture thickens.
Serve
Serve the lobster mixture on toast.
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.
-
Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,050 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Lobster + meattop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together909 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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 flavour and tender, bite-sized body of the dish.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the cream into a smooth sauce as they set with gentle heat.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, forming the body of the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps cook the lobster gently in the pan.
The step that matters
Stirring the egg yolks into the cream. Egg yolks scramble if they get too hot too quickly. Stirring constantly over gentle heat keeps the sauce smooth and lets it thicken evenly.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, meat, cream, egg, nutmeg, butter):
- Potatofits better
- Spinachfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, meat, cream, egg, nutmeg, butter. 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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Lobster Sauce174 recipes
Lobster Croquettes99 recipes
Meat Croquettes52 recipes
Meatballs37 recipes