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Lobster and Mushrooms a LA Newberg

A creamy lobster and mushroom dish seasoned with paprika, salt, onion juice, and sherry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Mushroom and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,176 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Lobster and Mushrooms a LA Newberg

Ingredients

Directions

Make the roux

  1. In a frying pan, make a roux by melting butter and stirring in flour until smooth.

Cook and finish

  1. Mix the lobster meat and mushrooms, then season with paprika, salt, and onion juice.

  2. Add the mixture to the roux and cook for 3 minutes.

  3. Remove from heat and quickly stir in the heated cream and baking soda.

  4. Return to heat for 1 minute, then add sherry and serve hot.

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. Mushroom + sherrytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,176 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).

  2. Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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

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

  5. Mushroom + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,626 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster meat
Provides the main protein and sweet, delicate flavour of the dish.
Mushrooms
Add earthy flavour and moisture that becomes part of the sauce as they cook.
Butter
Melts with the flour to form the roux, giving richness and a smooth base.
Flour
Thickens the butter and cooking liquids into a smooth, body-rich sauce.
Cream
Adds richness and a silky texture to the sauce.
Sherry
Adds acidity and aromatic depth at the end of cooking.

The step that matters

Stir in the cream and baking soda off the heat. Adding cold or hot dairy to a hot mixture can cause it to curdle or separate. Removing the pan from heat first and stirring quickly keeps the cream smooth and evenly blended before the sauce is gently reheated.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, meat, mushroom, butter, flour, cream, sherry):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Potatofits about as well
  3. Spinachfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, meat, mushroom, butter, flour, cream, sherry. 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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