Why it works: Cream and lobster 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 ↓
Lobster Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Add the essence of anchovies, pounded mace, and cayenne pepper.
Stir in the diced lobster flesh and heat through without boiling.
If using, add the cream and mix well.
Serve
Serve very hot.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Cream + lobstertop 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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Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Butter + lobstertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Mace + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,009 recipes
Mace and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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
- Melted butter
- Carries the flavours and gives the sauce its rich, smooth body.
- Lobster flesh
- Provides the main seafood flavour and tender, meaty pieces in the sauce.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a softer, smoother texture to the sauce.
- Essence of anchovies
- Adds a savoury, salty depth that enhances the seafood flavour.
The step that matters
Heat through without boiling. Lobster flesh becomes tough and rubbery when overcooked, and boiling a dairy-containing sauce can cause it to separate and curdle. Gentle heat keeps the lobster tender and the sauce smooth.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, cream, lobster):
- Nutmegfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, cream, lobster. 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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