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 a LA Newberg
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the lobster
Cut the lobster into small lumps.
In a skillet, melt the butter and season with salt and pepper.
Add the lobster and pour in the sherry, then cook for 10 minutes.
Finish and serve
Stir in the beaten egg yolks and cream.
Bring the mixture to a boil and serve immediately.
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 + 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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Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Lobster + buttertop 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
- Lobster
- Provides the main body of the dish and its sweet, delicate meat.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and carries flavor into the pan.
- Sherry
- Adds acidity and aroma that balance the richness of the sauce.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce as they heat, giving it a smooth, custard-like body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, softening the sauce's texture.
The step that matters
Stir in the egg yolks, then bring to a boil. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat. If the mixture gets too hot too fast, the yolks can scramble and curdle, leaving the sauce grainy instead of smooth.
“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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