Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Totted Lobsters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lobster
Separate the flesh of the lobsters from the shells and tough skin carefully.
Mince the lobster meat with a sharp knife and transfer it to a large bowl.
Add a seasoning mix of cayenne, mace, nutmeg, and finely powdered salt to the bowl.
Pound the mixture with 2 to 3 ounces of butter for large lobsters, less for small ones.
If using, rub the lobster coral through a sieve and add it to the mixture.
Stew the red skin of the tails in some butter for 10–12 minutes for color.
Strain the stewed skin and cool it before adding it to the mixture.
Taste the mixture and adjust seasoning, ensuring the lobster flavor remains dominant.
Chop and pound fresh brown shrimps with the lobster if desired.
Set and mould
Chill the mixture in a cool place or over ice to firm it up before pressing into molds.
Press the mixture into molds, smooth the surface, and cover with clarified butter.
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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Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Lobster + shrimptop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together403 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + shrimptop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,931 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Nutmeg + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Freshly-boiled lobsters
- Provide the main flesh, flavor and body of the mousse.
- Firm unsalted butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture when pounded into the lobster.
- Lobster coral
- Adds a rich lobster flavor and a deeper color to the mixture.
- Red skin of lobster tails
- Stewed in butter to colour the mixture with a reddish tint.
- Brown shrimps
- Add extra sweet seafood flavor when chopped and pounded with the lobster.
The step that matters
Chilling before moulding. The mixture must be cold and firm enough to hold its shape when pressed into molds. Warm, soft butter-rich mixture will slump and give a dense, greasy texture.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, nutmeg, butter, shrimp):
- Capersfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, nutmeg, butter, shrimp. 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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