Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Lobster Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Blend the coral of the lobster with 2 teaspoons of butter until smooth.
Stir in the lemon juice, cayenne, and salt.
Add the minced lobster meat and heat gently.
Serve
Serve warm.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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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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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + meattop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,594 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + lobstertop 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
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel to the sauce.
- Lobster coral
- Blended into the butter, it gives the sauce its colour and concentrated lobster flavour.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich butter and lobster flavours.
- Lobster meat
- Provides the main lobster flavour and texture in the finished sauce.
The step that matters
Heat the lobster meat gently. Lobster meat is delicate and turns tough and rubbery when overheated, so it should be warmed only until heated through.
“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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