Lobster Thermidor

Lobster Thermidor is a French dish of lobster meat cooked in a rich wine sauce, stuffed into a lobster shell and browned. The sauce is often a mixture of egg yolks and brandy (such as Cognac), served with an oven-browned cheese crust, typically Gruyère.^[1] The sauce originally contained mustard, typically powdered.^[2]

Lobster Thermidor

Lobster Thermidor (center of plate)
Place of origin	France
Main ingredients	lobster meat, egg yolks, brandy, mustard
Media: Lobster Thermidor

History

In January 1891, the play Thermidor by Victorien Sardou opened in the Comédie-Française theatre, named for month 11 in the new calendar of the French Revolution.^[3] It told the story of a young French clerk, Charles-Hippolyte Labussière, an employee of Robespierre's Committee of Public Safety who saved over 1,200 lives during the Reign of Terror by destroying documents condemning them to the guillotine.^[4] Four of those saved were actors of the Comédie-Française, thus inspiring a dish reminiscent of a play about a hero.^[4]

The recipe was possibly created at Café de Paris by Leopold Mourier, a former assistant to Auguste Escoffier. Another legend suggests it was created in 1894 at Chez Marie.^[5][6] Yet another source says it was created at Maison Maire, whose owner Mlle. Paillard sold the restaurant to Mourier.^[7] Maison Maire was a Parisian restaurant near the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin. According to that account, Paillard created the name of the recipe due to the play's notoriety. The play was highly controversial and was closed by the authorities, re-opening in March 1896.

The lobster Thermidor at Maison Maire was served like homard Américain, which was made with tomatoes, cayenne, and brandy, but with the addition of English mustard.^[2] An early London recipe for Homard à l'Américaine referred to à la Thermidor as a version with the addition of English mustard,^[8] while an early American recipe for lobster Thermidor left out the tomatoes, cayenne, and mustard and added cream sauce thickened with Béarnaise sauce and a sprinkling of grated cheese.^[9] It can be served with Newberg sauce but is differentiated from lobster Newberg by the addition of tomatoes.^[10]

See also

• Food portal

• List of seafood dishes
• List of stuffed dishes
• Eggs Sardou (Another dish created in honor of Sardou)