Why it works: Lobster and lettuce work together. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 411 recipes. Both carry octanal, which smells fat, soap. The science ↓
Lobster Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Break the leaves from the head of lettuce and soak in ice-cold water until crisp.
Drain and lay the leaves on a board, then shave them finely.
Assemble and serve
Just before serving, mix the lobster and dressing together lightly with a fork.
Arrange some lettuce leaves on a dish and place the lobster 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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Lobster + lettucetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together411 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
- Provides the main protein and rich flavour of the salad.
- Lettuce
- Adds crisp texture and freshness, which soaking in cold water helps achieve.
- Dressing
- Adds moisture and seasoning that coat the lobster and lettuce.
The step that matters
Mixing the lobster and dressing lightly, just before serving. Overmixing breaks up the lobster pieces and can make the mixture mushy. Mixing gently with a fork and close to serving keeps texture intact and prevents the lettuce and dressing from wilting or going soggy.
“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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