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 ↓
Broiled Live Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Split the lobsters in half and remove the stony pouch and intestines.
Glaze the lobsters with sweet oil and season with salt and pepper.
Broil and serve
Broil the lobsters for 7 minutes on each side.
Place them on a dish and moisten with maitre d’hotel sauce.
Serve immediately.
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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Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pepper + saucetop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,303 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Lobster + peppertop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,247 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Pepper and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,303 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobsters
- Provides the main meat, whose protein sets and firms as it cooks.
- Sweet oil
- Carries heat across the shell surface and keeps the glazed lobster from drying under the broiler.
- Maitre d’hotel sauce
- Adds moisture and rich flavor to the finished lobster.
The step that matters
Broil for 7 minutes on each side. Lobster meat turns tough and rubbery when overheated, because its proteins tighten too far. Watch the flesh closely and remove it once it turns opaque and firm.
“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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