Growing up in Masachusetts, Cape Cod to be exact, I have eaten a lot of lobster in my life. Lobster rolls, lobster bisque, whole lobsters. . .all of it. Personally, my favorite way to eat a lobster is whole and with a bib around my neck, much like this picture of me! Eating the sweet, tender meat of the lobster dipped in clarified butter is an almost celestial experience.
Another integral aspect of the lobster experience is taking it apart myself. I honestly do not understand when people only get the tails or the tails come already cracked; you miss the best part! I'll try to post a TikTok video of how to open and eat a lobster. Note: you're a real New Englander if you eat the legs! To eat the legs, you treat them like edamame, if that makes sense.
Something else you may or may not know about me is that I have no lived in various parts of Virginia since 2013. Although the DMV does have seafood, it's not the same as New England seafood. The types of fish here are differnt, less cod and more catfish, less lobster and more crabs. I have eaten a crab once or twice, but it's not my favorite. The ratio of effort to crab meat was so inconsequential that I didn't think it was worth it. And you use a mallet!
Something else I find strange about the seafood here is that no one wants to taste it. They like to cover it in this stuff called Old Bay Seasoning. It's bright red and covers up any flavor of the preexisting seafood! Personally, I find beauty in the original, unsullied flavor of the fish itself.
Anyway, enough of my ranting. My idea of the perfect lobster mean includes corn on the cob and crispy french fries with a side of melted clarified butter. The sweetness and freshness of the corn balances with the salty, crispiness of the french fries. I will use the melted clarified butter instead of regular butter to coat the corn on the cob. All of it finished off with the lobster.
Now, I am living in Williamsburg, VA where you can find approximately none live lobsters, so when I saw that there was a fundraiser where you can buy live lobsters from Maine to be delivered, I bought two. And my best friend bought four. So, I decided to write this post as an ode to lobster.
We picked up all six of our lobsters and then headed right home to enjoy them. It was kind of endearing, there were children working at the fundraiser with their parents, and they were actually the ones handling the lobsters. They all had gloves on and put them into everyone's separate coolers in their cars (socially distnced of course). I had to peek, and there they were. Bits of seaweed and all. I'm not gonna lie, it's a little sad putting the lobsters into the boiling water, but I did thank them for their service!
Here, I have my gorgeous dinner, including the necessary corn and french fries. I cooked my french fries in the air fryer because that's healthier, right?
How to cook the lobster:
Materials:
Large pot (I have a 20qt stock pot) with a lid
However many lobsters you want
Clarified butter (AKA ghee)
Instructions:
Take your big pot and out about 1" of water in the bottom. Bring it up to a boil and turn it down to medium heat.
Once this is done, carefully place your lobsters in the pot head down and cover firmly with the lid.
Let the lobsters steam until you can pull the antennas out with a tug (or about 11 minutes for a 1.25lb lobster like we got).
Remove the lobsters and eat immediately (because how could you hold back?).
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