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Potted Lobsters

A seasoned lobster paste mixed with butter and spices, chilled and molded.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Potted Lobsters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lobster

  1. Remove the flesh from the shells and tough skin of the tails of the lobsters.

  2. Mince the lobster meat quickly with a sharp knife and transfer it to a large bowl.

  3. Add a mixed seasoning of cayenne, pounded mace, nutmeg, and a small amount of powdered salt.

  4. Blend the lobster with 2 to 3 ounces of firm butter until it forms a paste.

Add the flavourings

  1. If using, rub the lobster coral through a sieve and mix it in.

  2. Stew the red skin of the tails in part of the butter for 10-12 minutes. Strain the stew. Cool the strained liquid before adding to the mixture.

  3. Adjust seasoning to taste, ensuring the lobster flavor remains dominant.

  4. If desired, chop and pound fresh brown shrimps with the lobster mixture.

Pot and set

  1. Chill the mixture in a cool place or over ice until firm before pressing it into pots or molds.

  2. Smooth the surface and cover with a little clarified butter.

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. Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Lobster + shrimptop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together403 recipes

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

  3. Butter + shrimptop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,931 recipes

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

  4. Nutmeg + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together24,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. 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

Freshly boiled lobsters
Provides the main flesh and sweet, rich flavor of the dish.
Firm unsalted butter
Binds the minced lobster into a smooth paste and adds richness and a silky texture.
Lobster coral
Adds concentrated lobster flavor and a deeper colour to the paste.

The step that matters

Chilling until firm before potting. The butter sets as it cools, giving the paste a firm, sliceable body. If it is pressed while still soft, the texture stays loose and the layers separate.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, nutmeg, butter, shrimp):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, nutmeg, butter, shrimp. 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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