Skip to main content
Main

Lobster Cotlets

Lobster cutlets are finely pounded lobster meat mixed with butter, salt, mace, cayenne, and lobster coral, formed into small cutlets and baked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 Cotlets

Oven, in the book's wordsA very gentle oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very gentle oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the mixture

  1. Pound the lobster meat finely.

  2. Add butter, salt, mace, cayenne, and lobster coral; blend until smooth.

  3. Taste and adjust seasoning carefully.

Shape and garnish

  1. Mold the mixture into small cutlets about ⅓ inch thick.

  2. Insert a small piece of lobster claw into each cutlet.

  3. Sprinkle coral lightly over the cutlets.

  4. Arrange cutlets on a serving dish.

Heat and serve

  1. Heat in a gentle oven at 300°F (150°C) for 8-10 minutes, or warm in a Dutch oven away from direct heat.

  2. Serve with a good sauce in the center.

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 + saucetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

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

  3. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,257 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster meat
Provides the main body and delicate flavor of the cutlets.
Sweet butter
Adds richness and moisture, helping the mixture bind and stay tender.
Lobster coral
Adds concentrated shellfish flavor and a rich color to the cutlets.

The step that matters

Heating the cutlets gently. Lobster protein turns firm and rubbery when overheated, and the butter can separate or dry out. Low, gentle heat keeps the cutlets tender and moist.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, meat, butter, pepper, sauce. 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.

You might also like

Lobster SauceLobster Sauce174 recipesLobster CroquettesLobster Croquettes99 recipesMeat CroquettesMeat Croquettes52 recipesMeatballsMeatballs37 recipes