Why it works: Lettuce and capers match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 372 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Lobster Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lobster
Cut the lobster meat into shreds.
Season the lobster with plenty of French dressing and keep on ice until ready to serve.
Mix the lobster with enough mayonnaise dressing to moisten.
Assemble and serve
Make cups from crisp lettuce leaves.
Fill the lettuce cups with the lobster salad and cover with mayonnaise dressing.
Garnish with capers and coral.
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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Lettuce + caperstop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together372 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Lobster + meattop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together909 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Lobster + caperstop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together102 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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Lobster + lettucetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together411 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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Meat + lettucetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together579 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster meat
- Forms the main body of the salad and provides its savoury, delicate flavour.
- French dressing
- Seasons the lobster meat with acidity and flavour before it is chilled.
- Mayonnaise dressing
- Adds fat and moisture so the shredded lobster stays tender and coats well.
- Crisp lettuce leaves
- Provide a crisp, cool base that holds the salad and contrasts with its texture.
The step that matters
Keeping the lobster cold before serving. Lobster meat is delicate and spoils quickly at warm temperatures, and cold also keeps the mayonnaise dressing from separating. Holding it on ice until serving protects both texture and safety.
“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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