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Lobster a LA Newburg

A lobster dish cooked in butter, sherry, brandy, cream, and egg yolks.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Sherry and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,209 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Lobster a LA Newburg

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lobster

  1. Remove lobster meat from shell and cut into slices.

Cook the sauce

  1. Melt butter in a pan, add lobster, and cook for three minutes.

  2. Add salt, cayenne, sherry, and brandy; cook for one minute.

  3. Stir in cream and slightly beaten egg yolks until thickened.

Serve

  1. Serve with toast or Puff Paste Points.

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. Sherry + brandytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Provides the main protein and the sweet, tender meat that gives the dish its body.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour and giving the sauce a smooth mouthfeel.
Egg yolks
Thicken the cream into a smooth custard-like sauce as they gently set with heat.
Cream
Forms the base of the sauce, adding moisture and a silky texture.
Sherry
Adds acidity and depth of flavour that balances the richness of butter and cream.
Brandy
Contributes aromatic complexity to the sauce.

The step that matters

Stir in cream and egg yolks until thickened. Egg yolks set when heated, but if the sauce gets too hot they can scramble and curdle. Keep the heat low and stir constantly so the sauce thickens smoothly.

“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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