Name: Louis Sauce for Crab, Etc
Ingredients: 1 heart of crisp lettuce, chopped fine; 1 small bell pepper, chopped fine; 1 small onion, chopped fine; 2 tablespoons Miller's chili sauce (or more, to taste); paprika; crab or lobster (or any preferred seafood); crisp lettuce leaves for garnish; hard boiled egg for garnish; sliced beets for garnish

Why it works: Lettuce and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,562 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Louis Sauce for Crab, Etc

Ingredients

1 heart of crisp lettuce, chopped fine
1 small bell pepper, chopped fine
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 tablespoons Miller's chili sauce (or more, to taste)
paprika
crab or lobster (or any preferred seafood)
crisp lettuce leaves for garnish
hard boiled egg for garnish
sliced beets for garnish

Directions

In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise with the chopped lettuce, bell pepper, and onion.
Add the Miller's chili sauce and paprika to taste.
Pour the sauce over crab or lobster.
Garnish with crisp lettuce leaves, hard boiled egg, and sliced beets as desired.

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.

Lettuce + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,562 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Lettuce + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,037 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Sauce + crabtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together238 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Onion + crabtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together311 recipes

Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

Mayonnaise (in the method): Provides the creamy fat base that carries the vegetables and seasoning.
Miller's chili sauce: Adds heat and tang, adjustable to taste.
Crisp lettuce: Adds a cool, crisp texture and fresh body to the sauce.
Bell pepper: Adds crunch and mild, fresh sweetness.
Onion: Adds sharp aromatic flavor and crunch.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lettuce, pepper, sauce, crab, egg):

Mustardfits better
Capsicumfits better
Spinachfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lettuce, pepper, sauce, crab, egg. 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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Louis Sauce for Crab, Etc