Why it works: Lobster and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,095 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Lobster a LA Newburg
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lobster
Cut the lobster into pieces about the size of a hickory nut.
In a pan, melt the butter and add the lobster pieces.
Finish the Newburg
Season with salt and pepper, then thicken with heavy cream.
Stir in the egg yolk and sherry wine.
Make the cream sauce
To make the cream sauce, melt 1 ounce of butter in a saucepan.
Mix in the flour and thin down with boiling cream to the desired consistency.
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 + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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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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Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main meat and flavor of the dish.
- Heavy cream
- Adds richness and moisture, and thickens the sauce as it reduces.
- Egg yolk
- Enriches and thickens the sauce, giving it a smooth, velvety body.
- Flour
- Thickens the cream sauce by forming a roux with the butter.
- Sherry wine
- Adds acidity and aromatic depth that balances the rich cream.
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavor, and forms the base of the roux for the sauce.
The step that matters
Stir in the egg yolk. Egg yolk thickens when heated gently but can scramble if the mixture boils, leaving a grainy sauce. Keep the heat low and stir constantly while it thickens.
“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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