Skip to main content
Main

Devilled Lobster

A lobster dish topped with a chutney and gherkin mixture, served hot with croutons.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Lobster and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,095 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Devilled Lobster

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the lobster tail into 7 equal slices.

  2. Mix chutney, gherkins, salt, cayenne, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl.

  3. Cover each lobster slice with the mixture.

Cook and serve

  1. Heat butter in a frying pan and add the lobster slices, warming thoroughly.

  2. Ensure croutons are hot and crisp, then place one lobster slice on each.

  3. If any chutney mixture remains, add a little on top of each lobster slice.

  4. Serve very hot.

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

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

  5. Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

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

Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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

Lobster tail
Provides the main meaty filling that is warmed through and served on the croutons.
Butter
Fat for warming the lobster slices, adding richness and a golden surface in the pan.
Chutney
Adds sweetness and fruity acidity that balances the rich lobster and butter.
Worcestershire sauce
Adds savoury depth and tang to the spiced mixture coating the lobster.
Croutons of fried bread
Give a crisp, absorbent base that holds the lobster and keeps its surface from going soggy.

The step that matters

Warming the lobster slices in the butter. Lobster is delicate and overheats quickly, so it turns firm and rubbery if cooked too long. Warming it gently and only until hot keeps it tender and moist.

“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

Brown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesLobster SauceLobster Sauce174 recipesLobster CroquettesLobster Croquettes99 recipesWhite BreadWhite Bread80 recipes