Why it works: Tarragon and chervil match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 824 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Petits Souffles De Homard
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the lobster meat into neat pieces.
Prepare ramekin cases with bands of writing paper about 3 inches above the case.
In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise sauce, tomato sauce, and aspic jelly until it looks white.
Stir in the lobster pieces and add a little tarragon and chervil.
Fill the ramekin cases with the mixture.
Once set, carefully remove the paper bands.
Garnish with coral sprinkled on top and serve.
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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Tarragon + cherviltop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together824 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Tomato + tarragontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together391 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Tomato + cherviltop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together152 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Lobster + cherviltop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together52 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, sauce, tarragon, chervil):
- Shallotfits better
- Lettucefits better
- Chivefits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, sauce, tarragon, chervil. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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