Name: Lobster Salad
Ingredients: 1 boiled lobster; 1 onion, minced; 1 pickled green apple, minced; 1 green capsicum, minced; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt

Why it works: Onion and capsicum are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 23,390 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Lobster Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lobster

Broil the boiled lobster until heated through.

Make the salad

Mince the lobster meat and combine it with the minced onion, pickled green apple, green capsicum, lemon juice, and coarse sea salt.

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.

Onion + capsicumtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together23,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Capsicum + lemontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,737 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Apple + capsicumtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together865 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,551 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Onion + appletop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,206 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster: Provides the main protein and the sweet, firm texture that forms the body of the salad.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the richness of the lobster.
Pickled green apple: Contributes tartness and a crisp texture that contrasts with the soft lobster meat.