Skip to main content
Main

Lobster Pie with Oysters

A savory pie made with boiled lobster, oysters, breadcrumbs, butter, and puff pastry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Oyster and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,184 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

Lobster Pie with Oysters

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the filling

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Line the edge of a buttered pie dish with puff pastry.

  3. Layer lobster pieces and oysters in the dish, sprinkling breadcrumbs in between.

  4. Add small pieces of butter, salt, and pepper throughout the layers.

Make the broth

  1. Boil lobster shells in 1 pint of water with a little salt and pepper, then strain.

Assemble and bake

  1. Mix the oyster liquor with the strained broth, thicken slightly, and pour into the pie.

  2. Cover with puff pastry, glaze with beaten egg, and bake until the crust is golden.

  3. Serve hot or cold, garnished with lobster heads and claws.

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. Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  2. Lobster + oystertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together255 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  3. Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,103 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Provides the main meaty filling and rich, sweet seafood flavour.
Oysters
Add briny, savoury flavour and a tender texture to the filling.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb juices from the seafood so the filling holds together rather than running out.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, helping the filling taste rounded and moist.
Puff pastry
Forms a flaky, crisp, golden crust that encloses the filling.
Beaten egg
Glazes the pastry, promoting even browning and a shiny finish.

The step that matters

Thickening the oyster liquor and broth before pouring. If the liquid is too thin it will run out or soak the pastry; mixing it with the broth and thickening slightly helps it stay in the pie and keeps the crust crisp.

“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