Skip to main content
Main

Lobster Cutlets

A savory dish of lobster meat formed into cutlets, coated in breadcrumbs and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Lobster Cutlets

Ingredients

Directions

Make the lobster base

  1. Bring the milk to a boil and whisk in the flour mixed with 1 tablespoon of butter.

  2. Pound the coral with the remaining butter, then add it to the milk mixture along with the chopped lobster and seasonings. Stir well until the mixture boils and thickens.

Shape and fry

  1. Once cool, turn the mixture onto a floured board and shape it into cutlets.

  2. Brush the cutlets with beaten egg and coat them with breadcrumbs. Fry the cutlets in hot oil until golden brown.

Garnish and serve

  1. Garnish with chopped fried parsley before serving.

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. Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Lobster + anchovytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together470 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Provides the main flesh and flavor, bound into the cutlet mixture.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, carrying flavor through the sauce and helping the cutlets brown.
All-purpose flour
Thickens the milk into a stiff base so the mixture holds its shape.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the flour thickens into a smooth panada.
Egg (in the method)
Beaten egg acts as a binder and glue so the breadcrumbs adhere and brown.

The step that matters

Cooling before shaping. The mixture must be cool and firm enough to handle; if it is still warm and soft, the cutlets will slump and tear. Starch from the flour sets as it cools, giving the mixture the body needed to hold its shape.

Swap the mace

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, pepper, butter, nutmeg, anchovy, sauce, flour. 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

Lemon SauceLemon Sauce236 recipesLobster SauceLobster Sauce174 recipesLobster CroquettesLobster Croquettes99 recipesLobster BallsLobster Balls7 recipes