Street View Street Food
Lobster Newburg
History
Lobster Newberg (also spelled Lobster Newburg) is
an American seafood dish made from lobster, butter,
cream, cognac, sherry, eggs, and Cayenne pepper. The
dish was invented by Ben Wenberg, a sea captain in the
fruit trade. He demonstrated the dish at Delmonico’s
Restaurant in New York City to the manager, Charles
Delmonico, in 1876. After refinements by the chef,
Charles Ranhofer, the creation was added to the
restaurant’s menu as Lobster à la Wenberg and it soon
became very popular.
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Culture
To satisfy patrons’ continued requests for it, the name was
rendered in anagram Lobster à la Newberg or Lobster
Newberg. It is still quite popular and is found in French
cookbooks, where it is sometimes referred to as “Homard
sauté à la crème.” When Ranhofer’s printed recipe first
appeared in 1894, the lobsters were boiled fully twenty-five
minutes, then fried in clarified butter, then simmered in
cream while it reduced by half, then brought again to the
boil after the addition of Madeira.