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Lobster Souffle

A chilled lobster dish with a frothy mayonnaise and aspic jelly base.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 ↓

Lobster Souffle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Drain the lobster from the tin and set aside.

  2. Prepare a mayonnaise using the egg yolks, oil, and vinegar.

  3. Melt the aspic jelly and let it cool, then combine it with the mayonnaise and whisk until frothy and white.

  4. Cut the lobster into neat pieces, saving the coral, and season with cayenne and lemon juice.

Assemble and set

  1. Arrange the lobster pieces in small ramekin cases lined with strips of paper.

  2. Fill the ramekins with the whisked sauce and jelly, almost to the top of the paper strips.

  3. Place in a cool area or on ice until the jelly sets.

Finish

  1. Remove the paper strips and garnish with chervil and the coral.

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. Tarragon + cherviltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together824 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Tarragon + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,137 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Chervil + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together358 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Tarragon + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Provides the main flavour and the firm, tender pieces that give the soufflé its body.
Egg yolks
Emulsify with the oil to form the mayonnaise, adding richness and a smooth, stable texture.
Aspic jelly
Sets when chilled, giving the soufflé its light, wobbly structure and holding it together.
Oil
Forms the fat phase of the mayonnaise, contributing richness and a silky texture.

The step that matters

Whisking the aspic into the mayonnaise. The aspic must be cooled to a syrupy state before it is whisked in; if it is too hot it can thin the mayonnaise and break the emulsion, and if it is too cold it sets in lumps. Whisking until frothy incorporates air, which gives the set soufflé its light texture.

“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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