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Stewed Lobster

Stewed lobster is a dish of lobster pieces simmered in water, butter, pepper, salt, and sherry or port.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,505 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Stewed Lobster

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the lobster into pieces about 1 inch square.

  2. Place the lobster pieces in a stew pan and pour in the water.

Stew

  1. Add the butter, pepper, and coarse sea salt.

  2. Mix in the green meat of the lobster and stew for about 10 minutes.

  3. Just before removing from heat, add the Sherry or Port wine and let it scald without boiling.

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

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

  3. Pepper + sherrytop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Lobster + sherrytop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together215 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

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 the sweet flavour of the stew.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, giving the stew a rounded, smooth mouthfeel.
Sherry or port wine
Adds acidity and aromatic depth that brightens the rich lobster and butter.
Green meat of the lobster
Contributes concentrated, rich flavour to the broth as it stews.

The step that matters

Adding the wine just before removing from heat. Wine that is kept hot too long loses its volatile aromas and can turn harsh, while boiling drives off alcohol and dulls its brightness. Scalding it gently keeps the flavour fresh and well-integrated.

“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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