Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Lobster Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Boil the milk and pour it over the bread crumbs.
Chop the lobster very fine and beat the eggs.
When the bread crumbs are nearly cold, mix in the lobster, anchovy sauce, cayenne, and salt.
Finally, add the cream and mix well.
Steam and serve
Butter a mold and fill it with the mixture.
Cover the top with buttered paper and steam for 1 hour.
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.
-
Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Lobster + anchovytop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together470 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
-
Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Lobster + creamtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,050 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main flavor and the bulk of the dish.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set when steamed, giving it a firm, sliceable structure.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb the hot milk and thicken the mixture, adding body and a tender texture.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, giving a softer, silkier texture.
- Milk
- Softens the bread crumbs and adds moisture to the base.
The step that matters
Cooling the bread crumbs before mixing in the lobster. If the bread crumbs are still hot, they can scramble the beaten eggs and cause the mixture to curdle or set unevenly. Letting them cool nearly completely keeps the custard-like base smooth before the eggs and other ingredients are added.
“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.
More lobster cream recipes
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
Lobster Sauce174 recipes
Lobster Croquettes99 recipes
White Bread80 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.