Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Potted Lobsters
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lobster
Remove the flesh from the shells and tough skin of the tails of the lobsters.
Mince the lobster meat with a sharp knife and transfer it to a large bowl.
Season and pound
Add a seasoning mix of cayenne, pounded mace, nutmeg, and a small amount of salt, ensuring the salt is finely ground.
Pound the lobster meat into a paste, adding 2 to 3 ounces of butter for large lobsters, or less for smaller ones.
If using, rub the lobster-coral through a sieve and mix it in.
For color, stew the red skin of the tails in some butter for 10-12 minutes, strain, and let it cool before mixing it in.
Adjust seasoning to taste, ensuring the lobster flavor remains dominant.
Chop and pound fresh brown shrimps with the lobster if desired.
Chill and pot
Chill the mixture in a cool place or over ice until firm.
Press the mixture into pots or molds, smoothing the surface and topping with clarified butter.
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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Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Lobster + shrimptop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together403 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + shrimptop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,931 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Nutmeg + buttertop 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Freshly-boiled lobsters
- Provides the main flesh that forms the body and flavor of the paste.
- Firm unsalted butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the pounded paste a smooth, spreadable texture.
- Lobster-coral
- Adds colour and a rich, concentrated seafood flavour to the paste.
- Pounded mace
- Contributes a warm, aromatic spice note that complements the lobster.
- Lightly grated nutmeg
- Adds warm, aromatic sweetness that rounds out the seasoning.
The step that matters
Pound in the butter gradually. Butter must be worked evenly into the lobster meat to form a smooth, stable paste; too much at once or uneven mixing leaves a greasy or grainy texture, and the fat firms when chilled, so the amount must suit the lobster size.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, nutmeg, butter, shrimp):
- Capersfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, nutmeg, butter, shrimp. 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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