If youre looking for decadence in a dish, Lobster Thermidor is it. Not only will you find tasty, expensive lobster, but it will also be dressed up with expensive ingredients and served in a fancy way. Its never going to be inexpensive, but its certainly going to be memorable. It takes a while to make, so people often order it for a special occasion or as a treat when they order it out.
What is Lobster Thermidor? When it’s served, the shell of the lobster tail will be filled with shiny chunks of lobster meat. It will be served in a sauce that usually has lobster stock, cream, white wine, a splash of cognac, mushroom flavorings, and sometimes mushrooms. Before it’s served, the lobster tail is filled with meat and a rich sauce. Gruyere cheese is then melted on top, and the lobster tail is baked until it’s golden brown.
Even though there are different versions of the classic Lobster Thermidor, the dish is so well-known and unique that you might think there is only one story about how and when it was made. In fact, Lobster Thermidor has mysterious origins.
Lobster Thermidor is one of the most decadent and indulgent seafood dishes you can order in a fine dining restaurant. This French classic features succulent lobster meat bathed in a rich, creamy cognac sauce, then stuffed back into the shell and browned to perfection. With its luxurious ingredients and elegant presentation, Lobster Thermidor is a dish that evokes images of fine dining and special occasions.
But where did this lavish dish get its distinctive name? The unusual moniker of Lobster Thermidor has sparked much curiosity over the years. Unlike more straightforward names like Lobster Newburg or Shrimp Scampi, the term “Thermidor” has no obvious connection to the dish itself So why is this opulent lobster preparation called Thermidor? As it turns out, the origins of the name are steeped in French history and theater lore.
A Revolutionary Calendar
To understand the roots of “Thermidor,” we have to go back to the time of the French Revolution in the late 18th century. This was a period of radical political upheaval in France that overthrew the monarchy and established a new republican government. As part of their reforms, the revolutionaries introduced a new calendar to replace the Gregorian calendar, which they associated with royalty, religion and the old regime.
The new Revolutionary Calendar organized the year into 12 months with evocative names connected to nature and the seasons. Each month was divided into three 10-day weeks called décades. The eleventh month of this calendar, running from July 19 to August 17 on our current Gregorian calendar, was known as Thermidor.
So what does the word “Thermidor” actually mean? It derives from the Greek term thermos meaning heat, and refers to the hot summer temperatures typically seen in France during this time. The other months of the Revolutionary Calendar likewise had names referring to seasonal conditions like Brumaire (“mist” or “fog”), Floréal (“flowering”), and Fructidor (“fruiting”).
While creative, the new calendar proved unpopular and was abandoned just 14 years later when Napoleon Bonaparte took power in France. But the evocative month names like Thermidor stuck around in French culture and language.
Lobster à la Thermidor
So how did a month on a defunct French Revolutionary calendar become the name of a lavish lobster dish? Here’s where the backstory gets a bit murky. According to legend, Lobster Thermidor was created sometime in the 1890s as an homage to the hot “Thermidor” month of the Revolutionary Calendar. Two origin stories for the dish circulate, attributing its invention to two famed Parisian restaurants of the era.
The first claims Lobster Thermidor was dreamed up in 1891 by Marie, the owner of the Paris restaurant Chez Marie. Her recipe built on an existing lobster dish named Homard à l’Americain, enhancing it with mustard and naming it after the steamy Thermidor month.
However, another origin story gives credit to Leopold Mourier, the personal chef of Napoleon III, who worked at Cafe de Paris in the same time period. Mourier allegedly crafted the dish to honor the month when Napoleon Bonaparte first tasted and fell in love with the lobster creation.
It’s unclear exactly who deserves credit for the initial concept. But both stories link the birth of Lobster Thermidor back to Thermidor month and the legacy of the French Revolution.
Scandal on Stage
Still, other tales suggest a more artistic inspiration behind Lobster Thermidor’s revolutionary moniker. In 1891, a new three-act play titled Thermidor opened at the famed Comédie Française theater in Paris. The playwright, Victorien Sardou, set his drama during the infamous Thermidorian Reaction in July 1794 when rebel factions abolished the radical Jacobin Club and ended the worst phase of the Revolution’s Reign of Terror.
Sardou’s play depicted this turbulent political era in ways that were controversial and critical of the Revolution. After just three showings, the French government banned performances of Thermidor, deeming it too politically dangerous.
According to some food historians, Lobster Thermidor was invented shortly after as a nod to Sardou’s scandalous banned play. Naming the dish after the subversive drama may have been a subtle act of rebellion by the chef against artistic censorship.
So in the end, the roots of Lobster Thermidor’s peculiar name remain uncertain. It may have honored a hot revolutionary month, General Bonaparte’s excellent taste, or a provocative theatrical spectacle. Whatever the true origins, this context gives the lavish lobster dish a dash of drama and intrigue befitting its extravagant nature. The next time you indulge in Lobster Thermidor, you can savor not only its elegant flavors but also its colorful past.
Napoleon Bonaparte was a lobster fan
It would be an understatement to say that the French Revolution, which History says happened from 1789 to 1799, was a time of great change. The whole structure of the government was rethought and rearranged. This was a controversial process that led to the guillotine deaths of King Louis XVI and his wife Marie-Antoinette for treason. There were riots, the Reign of Terror, widespread food shortages, and even a whole new calendar that wasn’t based on honoring saints and royalty but on valuing nature. According to Britannica, the months were named after flowers, seeds, fruits, harvest, and royalty.
But about that lobster? During Napoleons rise to power, both The Fish Society and Prime Steak & Seafood explain that the diminutive general named one month to commemorate the time when he first tasted and loved this delicious lobster preparation. That month, the eleventh in the French Republican Calendar, was called Thermidor, named because its one of the hottest of the year in France, as it stretched from July 19 to August 17 based on our modern calendar.
Interestingly, Emperor Napoleon I abandoned the Republican Calendar in 1806. There doesn’t seem to be much proof of this possibly mythical link between Lobster Thermidor and Napoleon, but the story of how they met is often told.
Lobster Thermidor: A Step-By-Step Guide | Chef Jean-Pierre
What is Lobster Thermidor?
Lobster Thermidor is a French dish of lobster meat cooked in a rich wine sauce, stuffed back 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. The sauce originally contained mustard (typically powdered mustard).
Why did Lobster Thermidor last 3 nights?
The play only lasted for three nights because of its questionable content, which criticized the French Revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre, but lobster Thermidor had already made its mark, with other chefs like Auguste Escoffier taking note; he included a recipe for the dish in one of his own cookbooks, published in 1903.
How do you cook a lobster Thermidor?
Spoon sauce over the meat and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Broil in the preheated oven until just golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately. Lobster Thermidor is cooked lobster drizzled with a rich sauce, stuffed back into the shells, sprinkled with Parmesan, and broiled until golden.
Why is Lobster Thermidor so expensive?
Lobster Thermidor is a very decadent dish that may seem simple, but when served in restaurants it was (and is) quite expensive. This is not only because of the cost of lobster but because of the many steps required to make it. This is not to say it is difficult to make. It is simply time-consuming.