Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Croquettes of Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
Mince the lobster meat and work in the melted butter, but do not let it get hot.
Add the anchovy sauce, hard-boiled egg yolk powder, lemon juice, and seasonings.
Mix in the raw egg yolks and then fold in the bread crumbs.
Shape and chill
Shape the mixture into oblong balls and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Fry and serve
Fry the croquettes quickly in deep cottolene or lard until golden.
Drain excess fat by rolling each croquette lightly on a hot, clean cloth.
Ensure your serving dish is well heated before serving.
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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Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Lobster + anchovytop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together470 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
-
Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Bread + anchovytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,260 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
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 the bulk of the croquette filling.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the lobster, keeping the filling tender.
- Eggs
- Raw yolks bind the mixture so the croquettes hold their shape when fried.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and give the filling body so it can be shaped.
- Hard-boiled egg yolks
- Add richness and a fine, dry texture that helps firm the filling.
The step that matters
Keep the butter from getting hot when mixing it into the lobster. Overheated butter separates and releases its water, making the mixture greasy and loose, so the croquettes may not hold their shape or brown evenly.
“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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