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 ↓
Deviled Lobster
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lobster
Remove all the meat from the boiled lobster, reserving the coral.
Season the lobster meat with mustard, cayenne, salt, and table sauce.
Make the sauce
Rub the coral smooth, adding vinegar until it is thin enough to pour easily, then stir it into the saucepan.
Prepare the dressing before heating the meat, allowing it to boil once before adding the coral.
Cook and finish
Stew the mixture until well combined in a covered saucepan with enough hot water to prevent burning.
Stir in the butter, and when it boils again, remove it from heat immediately to avoid toughening the meat.
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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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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Mustard + saucetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,120 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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 dish, providing the substance that the seasoning and sauce coat.
- Coral (in the method)
- Adds a rich, smooth texture and concentrated flavour to the sauce when rubbed and thinned.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the sauce a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich coral and thins it to a pourable consistency.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour that cuts through the richness of the lobster and butter.
The step that matters
Removing the pan from heat after the butter boils. Prolonged or high heat causes the proteins in lobster meat to tighten and toughen, so it should be taken off the heat as soon as the mixture boils again.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, pepper, sauce, vinegar, butter):
- Mustardthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Shallotfits less well
- Horseradishfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, pepper, sauce, vinegar, butter. 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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