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Lobster Au Four

A roasted lobster cooked in a paper bag with onions, herbs, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Lobster Au Four

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the lobster

  1. Cut the lobster in half.

  2. Break the large pincers.

  3. Season the lobster with salt and pepper.

  4. Add the chopped onions, herbs, and butter.

Bag and cook

  1. Place the mixture into a paper bag.

  2. Cook for 30 minutes.

  3. Trim the meat if necessary.

  4. Remove any projecting bones.

  5. Dredge the cut side of the lobster with flour seasoned with salt and pepper.

  6. Grease the paper bag.

  7. Place the lobster inside the bag.

  8. Fasten the end of the bag with wire clips.

  9. Cook in a 400°F (200°C) oven until tender.

Serve

  1. Open the bag.

  2. Serve the lobster with gravy.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  5. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Main protein; cooking it enclosed in the bag keeps the meat moist and tender.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour through the lobster as it cooks.
Onions
Release sweet, aromatic flavour as they steam with the lobster and butter.
Flour (in the method)
Dries and lightly browns the cut surface and helps thicken the gravy.

The step that matters

Fasten the end of the bag with wire clips. A tight seal traps steam around the lobster, so it cooks gently in its own moisture. If the bag is left open, steam escapes, the meat can dry out, and the lobster may cook unevenly.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, pepper, egg, butter):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, pepper, egg, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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