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Lobster Soup

A soup made from lobster shells, cream, milk, crackers, cayenne pepper, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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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 ↓

Lobster Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. Wash and boil the lobster shells for 2 to 3 hours.

  2. Strain the stock and add an equal amount of cream and milk.

Finish the soup

  1. Roll the crackers and add them to the soup.

  2. Season with cayenne pepper and coarse sea salt.

  3. Simmer for a few moments, then add the finely picked lobster meat and butter.

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. Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Lobster + meattop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together909 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Meat + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,594 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster shells
Release flavorful compounds into the boiling water, forming the soup's base stock.
Lobster meat
Provides the main seafood flavor and tender texture in the finished soup.
Cream
Adds richness and a silky body to the soup.
Milk
Thins the broth and adds mild sweetness and body alongside the cream.
Crackers
Starch from the crushed crackers thickens the soup slightly and softens its body.
Butter
Adds fat for a rounded, smooth mouthfeel and rich flavor.

The step that matters

Simmer gently after adding the cream and milk. Dairy can scorch or curdle if it boils hard, especially with starch from the crackers present. A gentle simmer keeps the soup smooth. Add the lobster meat and butter at the end so the delicate meat stays tender and is not overcooked.

“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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