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Sturgeon a LA Russe

A braised sturgeon served with a stiff glaze, lobster-coral, and garnishes of gurnet fillets, gherkins, olives, and seafood.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 20 ingredients
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Why it works: Lobster and sauce 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 ↓

Sturgeon a LA Russe

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the sturgeon

  1. Braise the sturgeon in wine mirepoix or in vinegar and water.

  2. Once cooked, remove the skin and trim the sturgeon.

  3. Mask the sturgeon with stiff glaze mixed with pounded lobster-coral.

Garnish and sauce

  1. Garnish with small fillets of gurnets and green gherkins, sautéed in butter.

  2. Place turned olives at each end.

  3. Pour rich Genoise sauce around it.

  4. Finish with lobster butter, cayenne, lemon juice, chopped parsley, capers, turned olives, and crayfish tails.

  5. Garnish the inner edge of the dish with fried smelts.

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. Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Vinegar + olivetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,297 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  4. Wine + vinegartop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,493 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  5. Sturgeon + saucetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together93 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Sturgeon
Is the main fish, braised until cooked and then glazed and garnished.
Stiff glaze
Coats the fish with a firm, glossy layer that holds the lobster-coral garnish in place.
Butter
Adds richness and browning when the gherkins and gurnet fillets are sautéed.
Lobster butter
Adds rich, savoury flavour and a rosy colour to the finishing sauce.
Genoise sauce
Provides a rich, creamy sauce that moistens the fish and carries the dish.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich butter and sauce flavours.

The step that matters

Braising the sturgeon. Sturgeon is firm and lean, so it can dry out or turn tough if overcooked. Gentle braising in wine or vinegar and water keeps it moist and tender.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sturgeon, wine, vinegar, lobster, butter, olive, sauce):

  1. Lemonthe original
  2. Grapefits about as well
  3. Plumfits about as well
  4. Applefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sturgeon, wine, vinegar, lobster, butter, olive, sauce. 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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