Why it works: Lobster and lettuce work together. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 411 recipes. Both carry octanal, which smells fat, soap. The science ↓
Lobster Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the bone from the lobster and cut it into small pieces (do not chop).
Break the leaves from the head of lettuce and soak them in ice-cold water until crisp.
Lay the lettuce leaves on a board and shave them finely.
Assemble and serve
Just before serving, mix the lettuce, lobster, and dressing together lightly with a fork.
Arrange some lettuce leaves on a dish and place the mixture in the center.
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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Lobster + lettucetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together411 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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 a tender texture when cut into pieces rather than chopped.
- Lettuce
- Supplies crunch and bulk, and crispness improves after soaking in cold water.
- Dressing
- Adds moisture and flavor that coats the lobster and lettuce.
The step that matters
Mix lightly just before serving. Dressing softens lettuce over time, so tossing late and gently keeps the leaves crisp. Gentle mixing with a fork avoids bruising the lobster pieces and keeps the salad from turning soggy.
“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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