Name: Lobster Sauce
Ingredients: ½ pint béchamel sauce; 2 heaped tablespoons finely chopped lobster; a little lobster coral or spawn; a pinch of cayenne or paprika pepper

Why it works: Sauce and lobster 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 ↓

Lobster Sauce

Ingredients

½ pint béchamel sauce
2 heaped tablespoons finely chopped lobster
a little lobster coral or spawn
a pinch of cayenne or paprika pepper

Directions

In a saucepan, combine the béchamel sauce and finely chopped lobster, then add the lobster coral or spawn and mix well.
Heat the mixture carefully while stirring until hot.
Season with cayenne or paprika pepper and serve immediately.

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.

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.

Sauce + lobstertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,095 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sauce + peppertop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,303 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Lobster + peppertop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,247 recipes

Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

Sauce and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,303 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

Béchamel sauce: Forms the creamy base that carries the lobster flavour and gives the sauce its body.
Lobster: Supplies the main seafood flavour and tender texture throughout the sauce.
Lobster coral or spawn: Adds a rich, concentrated lobster flavour and a warm orange colour to the sauce.

The step that matters

Heat the mixture carefully while stirring until hot. Béchamel is a flour-thickened sauce that can scorch on the bottom of the pan or separate if overheated. Gentle heat with constant stirring keeps it smooth and evenly warmed, and protects the delicate lobster from toughening.

“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.