Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Lobster Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
Pound the lobster meat and coarsely mix until well combined.
Add the bread crumbs, pepper, salt, cayenne, and melted butter; mix well.
Shape and coat
Form the mixture into egg-shaped or round balls.
Roll each ball in egg, then coat with fine bread crumbs.
Fry
Fry the balls in boiling lard until golden brown.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Meat + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,924 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Lobster + meattop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together909 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster meat
- Forms the main body of the croquettes and gives them their flavor.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and bind the mixture so the balls hold their shape.
- Egg
- Binds the coating so the bread crumbs stick to each ball.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richness and helps keep the filling tender.
The step that matters
Frying in boiling lard. The lard must be hot enough to brown the coating quickly. If it is too cool, the croquettes absorb excess fat and turn greasy before the coating sets and browns.
“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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