Signature dish
Lobster with tandoori spices, carrot, citrus and coriander
Hélène Darroze · 1967 · Paris and London
Lobster poached and glazed in a butter sauce spiked with tandoori spices, set against a carrot and candied-citrus purée with fresh coriander; it began as a scallop dish Darroze built after a trip to India and has stayed on the Connaught menu in some form for years.
Why it works
The aroma compounds of the tandoori blend are fat-soluble, so infusing them into the butter sauce fixes them onto the lean lobster meat, while the acid of the citrus stops the carrot purée's sugar from flattening the shellfish's own sweetness.