Why it works: Lettuce and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,356 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Lobster Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the salad
Remove the lobster meat from the can in large pieces, keeping the coral separate.
Chop the lettuce and arrange it on a serving dish.
Place the lobster meat on top of the lettuce and arrange the coral around the edge.
Make the dressing
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks well, then slowly add the salad oil while beating vigorously.
Mix in the mustard, vinegar, salt, and cayenne pepper.
Serve
Pour the dressing over the salad just before serving.
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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Lettuce + mustardtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,356 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lettuce + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,037 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Meat + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together855 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify the oil into the dressing, giving it a thick, creamy body.
- Salad oil
- Provides fat and richness, forming the body of the emulsified dressing.
- Lobster meat
- Supplies the main protein and sweet, delicate flavor of the salad.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich dressing and balances its fat.
- Mixed mustard
- Acts as an emulsifier that helps hold the oil and yolk together.
The step that matters
Adding the oil slowly while beating. Oil must be added gradually while beating so it disperses into tiny droplets held by the egg yolk. Adding it too fast causes the dressing to break and separate.
Swap the lettuce
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, meat, egg, mustard, vinegar, pepper):
- Horseradishfits about as well
- Lettucethe original
- Shallotfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, meat, egg, mustard, vinegar, pepper. 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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