Homard Thermidor (Lobster Thermidor)

Homard thermidor was created (according to the most commonly cited account) on 24 January 1894 at Chez Marie restaurant in Paris, on the night of the premiere of Victorien Sardou's play Thermidor. The preparation was named for the revolutionary calendar month (thermidor — the month of heat) and appeared on the menu of the world's most famous restaurants within a decade. Escoffier included it in his guide. It remains on menus worldwide, a benchmark of the classical luxury kitchen.

A split, grilled live lobster, its flesh removed, dressed in a cream sauce enriched with shallot, white wine, Cognac, and Dijon mustard, returned to the half shell, masked with more sauce, scattered with Gruyère and gratinéed until golden. Homard thermidor is among the most celebrated of all classical luxury preparations — the combination of the sweet, firm lobster flesh and the mustard-enriched cream sauce gratinéed to a golden, slightly caramelised surface is, in the classical repertoire, the most complete expression of the lobster as an ingredient.

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