Why it works: Crab and cream work together. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 317 recipes. Both carry acetoin, which smells butter, cream. The science ↓
Bisque of Crab a LA Fitziiardinge
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Pick the white meat from the claws of the crab and set aside in a cool place.
Scoop out the pulpy part of the crab and pound it with the cooked rice.
Dilute the mixture with the consommé and strain it through a fine sieve into a puree.
Finish and serve
Heat the puree gently in a soup pot, stirring with a wooden spoon to prevent curdling.
Mix in the boiling cream and cayenne pepper to taste.
Pour the soup into a tureen containing the warmed shredded crab meat 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.
-
Crab + creamtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together317 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
-
Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Crab + ricetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together117 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
-
Crab + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together922 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
-
Rice + creamtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,399 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Crab
- Provides the main flavour and the delicate meat that gives the bisque its body.
- Cooked rice
- Thickens the soup when pounded into the crab, giving it a smooth, full texture.
- Consommé
- Forms the savoury liquid that thins the crab mixture into a pourable soup.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the finished soup.
The step that matters
Heating the puree gently. Cream and egg-free dairy mixtures can curdle when overheated or heated too fast. Gentle heat and constant stirring keep the soup smooth before the cream is added.
“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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Rice Cake120 recipes
Rice Cream43 recipes
Rice Jelly42 recipes
Rice Pudding22 recipes