Name: Lobster a LA Newburg
Ingredients: 2 small cans of lobsters, cut into large pieces; 1 heaping tablespoon of butter; Coarse sea salt, to taste; Red pepper, to taste; ⅓ cup sherry; 3 egg yolks, well beaten; 1 cup rich cream; Buttered toast or wafers, for serving

Why it works: Lobster and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,050 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Lobster a LA Newburg

Ingredients

Directions

Make the lobster

Melt the butter in a saucepan or chafing dish.
Add the lobster and stir until thoroughly heated.
Season with salt and red pepper, then add the sherry.
Cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

Finish and serve

Add the beaten egg yolks and cream, and bring to a boil.
Serve immediately on buttered toast or wafers.

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.

Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,050 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,505 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,609 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobsters: Provides the main protein and sweet, delicate meat that forms the body of the dish.
Butter: Adds richness and carries flavour as it coats the lobster pieces during gentle heating.
Sherry: Adds acidity and aromatic depth that balances the richness of the cream and yolks.
Egg yolks: Thicken the sauce through gentle setting and add richness and a smooth, velvety texture.
Cream: Adds fat and body, giving the sauce a rich, smooth consistency.

The step that matters

Adding the egg yolks and cream. Egg yolks thicken by setting when heated, but if the mixture boils too hard or too long after the yolks go in, they can scramble and turn grainy. Keep the heat moderate and stir constantly once the yolks and cream are added.

“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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Lobster a LA Newburg