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Lobster Dressing

A creamy dressing made with egg yolks, mustard, butter, and cream, served over lobster.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Lobster Dressing

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dressing

  1. Beat the egg yolks until light.

  2. Add mustard, salt, cayenne, sugar, and melted butter; mix well.

  3. Stir in the vinegar, then add the cream or milk and beaten egg whites.

  4. Cook in a double boiler until thickened.

Finish and serve

  1. Let cool, then fold in ½ cup of whipped cream.

  2. Pour over prepared lobster.

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.

  1. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Egg yolks
Thicken the dressing as they cook, giving it a rich, smooth body.
Egg whites
Add airiness and lightness to the cooked dressing.
Butter or oil
Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens flavor and balances the richness.
Cream or milk
Adds moisture and creaminess, softening the dressing's texture.

The step that matters

Cook in a double boiler until thickened. Egg proteins set gently with indirect, moderate heat. Too much heat can scramble the eggs and curdle the dressing, so cook slowly and stir often.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, pepper, sugar, cream, vinegar):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Mustardthe original
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Potatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, pepper, sugar, cream, vinegar. 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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