Why it works: Lettuce and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,356 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Lobster Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lettuce
Soak the lettuce leaves in ice cold water until crisp.
Shave the lettuce leaves finely.
Make the sauce
To make the mayonnaise sauce, whisk together the cream, egg yolks, salt, mustard, and pepper in a saucepan.
Add the white wine vinegar and stir constantly over low heat until well scalded.
Pour the sauce into a jug.
Assemble and serve
In a bowl, mix the lobster, lettuce, and mayonnaise dressing lightly with a fork just before serving.
Arrange some lettuce leaves on a dish and place the mixture in the center.
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.
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Lettuce + mustardtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,356 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,050 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lettuce + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,037 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main body and flavour of the salad.
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify and thicken the cream-based sauce, giving it body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, mild texture to the sauce.
- White wine vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the sauce and balances its richness.
- Mayonnaise dressing
- Coats the lobster and lettuce, adding moisture and richness.
The step that matters
Stirring the sauce over low heat. Egg yolks scramble if they get too hot, which turns the sauce grainy. Stirring constantly over gentle heat lets the yolks thicken it smoothly.
Swap the lettuce
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, cream, egg, mustard, pepper, white wine, vinegar):
- Horseradishfits better
- Shallotfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Lettucethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, cream, egg, mustard, pepper, white wine, 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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