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 ↓
Creamed Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add the grated onion; cook for 1 minute.
Stir in the flour and cook for a few minutes until it thickens.
Slowly add the stock and lemon juice (or white wine), stirring continuously until thickened.
Finish and serve
Gently fold in the lobster meat, being careful not to break it, and heat through.
Remove from heat and mix in the cream combined with the beaten egg yolk.
Return to low heat for 1 minute, then serve in fontage cups.
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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lobster + meattop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together909 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Butter
- Enriches the base and carries the onion flavour into the sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the stock into a smooth sauce body.
- Lobster meat
- Provides the main flavour and tender, meaty texture.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a silky, smooth mouthfeel to the sauce.
- Egg yolk
- Enriches and thickens the cream into the sauce.
The step that matters
Adding the cream and egg yolk off the heat. Egg yolk can curdle or scramble if it gets too hot. Removing the pan from the heat before mixing in the cream and yolk, then returning it only briefly to low heat, keeps the sauce smooth and creamy.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, onion, flour, lobster, meat, cream, egg):
- Coconutfits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Avocadofits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, onion, flour, lobster, meat, cream, egg. 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.
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