Why it works: Lobster and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,609 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Butter, Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Pound the lobster berries in a mortar.
Mix in the butter, essence of anchovies, and cayenne pepper.
Rub the mixture through a fine sieve.
Form into small balls if using as savory butter, or leave in a basin for Cardinal Sauce.
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 + buttertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Lobster + peppertop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,247 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, spreadable texture that carries the other flavours.
- Essence of anchovies
- Adds a savoury, salty depth that rounds out the butter.
- Cayenne pepper
- Adds a sharp, lingering heat that balances the richness of the butter.
The step that matters
Rub the mixture through a fine sieve. Cold, firm butter resists passing through the sieve and can clog the mesh, so the mixture should be soft enough to press. Breaking the solids into fine particles spreads colour and flavour evenly through the butter.
“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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