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 ↓
Beelinee Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Melt the butter in a double boiler.
Beat the egg yolks with the cream in a separate bowl over hot water until creamy.
Remove from heat and add salt, paprika, and sherry.
Serve
Pour the mixture over the lobster and serve immediately while hot.
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 + creamtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,050 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main body and sweet, delicate seafood flavor of the dish.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify with the cream and thicken it into a smooth, custard-like sauce.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, giving the sauce its body and softness.
- Sherry
- Contributes acidity and aroma that brighten the rich sauce.
The step that matters
Cook the yolks and cream gently over hot water. Egg yolk proteins set at moderate temperatures, so gentle heat thickens the sauce smoothly. Too much heat scrambles the yolks and leaves a grainy, curdled texture.
“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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