Why it works: Butter and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 24,377 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Lobster Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Place the lobster coral in a mortar.
Add an equal weight of clarified butter.
Pound the mixture until smooth and free of lumps.
Add cayenne during pounding, about ¼ teaspoon for every 4 tablespoons of mixture.
Optionally, add a grate of nutmeg.
Use immediately or store for later.
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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Butter + nutmegtop 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).
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Lobster + nutmegtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together458 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster coral
- Provides the rich flavor and orange color that give the butter its character.
- Clarified butter
- Carries the coral and adds smooth richness, since its milk solids and water are removed.
- Cayenne
- Adds gentle heat that balances the richness of the butter.
The step that matters
Pound until smooth and free of lumps. Thorough pounding breaks the coral into fine particles and evenly disperses it through the fat. Lumps leave pockets of unevenly flavored, gritty butter that spreads poorly and tastes uneven.
Swap the nutmeg
The recipe marks nutmeg as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, butter):
- Capersfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, butter. 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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