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Lobster Rissoles

Lobster rissoles are small pastry-wrapped lobster patties coated in egg and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Lobster Rissoles

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Remove the flesh from the lobster shell and chop it finely.

  2. In a saucepan, combine the lobster, yolk of egg, white sauce, parsley, and cayenne. Heat until hot.

  3. Season to taste, then transfer to a plate and let cool.

Shape and fry

  1. Roll out the puff pastry as thinly as possible and cut into 2-inch rounds.

  2. Place a small amount of the lobster mixture in the center of each round.

  3. Moisten the edges with cold water, fold into a half-moon shape, and coat with egg and breadcrumbs.

  4. Heat frying fat in a deep pan and fry the rissoles until golden brown.

  5. Drain well, then serve.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,765 recipes

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

  4. Sauce + parsleytop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,693 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Lobster + parsleytop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together890 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

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

What each ingredient does

Lobster
Forms the main filling and gives the rissoles their savoury seafood flavour.
Egg yolk
Binds the lobster filling and adds richness to the mixture.
White sauce
Adds moisture to the filling so it stays soft rather than dry.
Puff pastry trimmings
Forms the outer case that bakes or fries to a crisp, flaky shell.
Egg and breadcrumbs
Coat the rissoles, helping them brown and form a crisp outer crust when fried.

The step that matters

Sealing the pastry edges. Moistening and firmly folding the edges seals the filling inside. If the seal is weak, the filling can leak into the hot fat and the rissoles can burst while frying.

Swap the parsley

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

  1. Tarragonfits about as well
  2. Capersfits about as well
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Nutmegfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, egg, sauce, pepper. 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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