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Lobster Salad

A salad of lobster, eggs, and a mustard vinaigrette.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Lobster Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lobster and eggs

  1. Press out the juice from the lobster and chop it coarsely.

  2. Cool the hard-boiled eggs.

  3. Rub the yolks to a jelly and mix with the lobster.

  4. Chop the egg whites.

  5. Add the chopped egg whites to the mixture.

Make the dressing

  1. In a saucepan, combine 2 beaten eggs, mustard, black pepper, cayenne pepper, olive oil, vinegar, butter, and salt.

  2. Stir the mixture over low heat until the dressing thickens.

  3. Let the dressing cool.

Assemble and serve

  1. Pour the dressing over the lobster mixture.

  2. Serve.

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. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Mustard + olivetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,297 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  5. Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,263 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Provides the main meaty texture and flavour of the salad.
Hard-boiled eggs
Yolks blended to a jelly add richness and body; whites add chewy texture.
Eggs
Thicken the dressing as they cook gently, giving it a creamy, set consistency.
Mustard
Adds sharp flavour that balances the richness of the eggs and butter.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and cuts through its richness.
Butter
Adds fat that makes the dressing smooth and rich.

The step that matters

Stir the dressing over low heat until it thickens. Egg proteins set at moderate temperatures, so gentle heat and constant stirring thicken the dressing smoothly. High heat or neglect can scramble the eggs into lumps.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, egg, pepper, olive, vinegar, butter):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardthe original
  3. Cucumberfits about as well
  4. Tomatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, egg, pepper, olive, vinegar, 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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