You may think eating lobster in The Hamptons is all glitzy, fancy pants, gilded, fabulous and over-priced. It’s only a little bit like that. And at Multi Aquaculture Fish Farms, it’s not like that at all. It’s more like a David Lynch movie.

Located in Amagansett on Cranberry Hole Road, this place is not easy to find, and is a bit confusing when you do.

The branding’s a little unclear.

And there are things like disco balls.

But, they sell the delicious foods.

And amuse with hilarious art (there’s a continuing woman-on-lobster-theme).

There are herrings and chickens too.

The chickens donated their fresh eggs to our breakfast.

When you get tired of lobster art and getting splinters, you can always go classy and eat somewhere like Spinnakers in Sag Harbor.

YUM.

they use mayo.

Go lobsterHampton!

Over the weekend we were out in Montauk — driving around in the cold, hanging out by the beach, getting engaged. You know, the usual. There was a ring presented in an oyster shell, a lot of pictures taken, and then, of course, a visit to Duryea Lobsters to get a couple of pound-and-a-halfers to celebrate with.

Duryea’s, which has been around for over 80 years, is a favorite of ours. They sell fresh live lobsters (as well as other seafood and lobster memorabilia) out of a little store in the front, and in the summer there’s an outdoor deck and pier where you can get some pretty excellent lobster rolls and gaze out over the water.

In picking out our celebratory shellfish, we got to talking with Svetlana, a warm Russian woman who came to work at Duryea’s as a student on a summer program a decade ago and ended up loving the place and sticking around. She gave us a mini-tour of the tanks in the back and a little tutorial on how to tell male and female lobsters apart (Rachel already knew).

Basically, male lobsters generally have bigger claws while female lobsters have wider tails. As well, the “swimmerets” — small appendages on the underside of the tail which help the lobster move forward — are softer and more feathery on the females. Most people don’t think gender makes a difference in the way a lobster’s meat tastes, but female lobsters come with delicious roe (the black eggs found in the tail which turn red when cooked).

We’d been under the impression that larger lobsters tended to be more rubbery when cooked, but Svetlana said even the meat from a 10-pounder — when cooked properly, for the right amount of time — should come out tender.

Anyhow, we’d intended to head home and make some elaborate lobster-based recipe that we could put up on the blog and call “Engagement Lobster,” but after an afternoon of champagne and calls to family we ended up keeping it simple. It turns out engagement lobsters are simply steamed, put in a bowl, and torn apart with one’s fingers. Seemed fitting.

Food styling by Vanessa Granof (Photo: Hans Gissinger)

Our love of lobster has leaked over into our professional lives; David wrote a piece for New York Magazine a few years ago about how to get the most out of your lobster. I thought it’d be fun to reprint his tips.

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Lobster Forensics
How to buy, steam, and suck out every last ounce of meat from your favorite crustacean.

1. The Claws
Separate the arms from the body. Hyperextend the lobster’s “thumb”and pull it off. Use a cracker or knife (or your hands) to break the shell, and pull out the meat with a fork. Because of the rubber bands placed around lobsters’ claws in tanks, the claw meat may have atrophied (a sign of a not-so-fresh lobster). The claw meat should be nearly as large as the shell around it.

2. The Head and Thorax
Additional meat can be found toward the front of the body cavity. Peel off the outer shell, split the body down the middle with your thumbs, and pick it apart (either with a fork or with your fingers).

3. The Knuckles
The connections between the claw and the body have sweet meat inside of them. Use a cracker or knife to break them into pieces and push the meat with a small fork.

4. The Walking Legs
When eating a whole lobster, you can break off the six small legs, separate them into sections, and suck the meat as through a straw. You can also press down on the legs with your fingers, moving from the ends toward the body.

5. The Tomalley
The light-green tomalley found inside the main body of the lobster is its liver and pancreas. The taste is rich, and while it can be eaten alone, many people like to mix it with bread crumbs to make a stuffing.

6. The Blood
A lobster’s blood is clear when the animal is living and turns into an opaque white gel when cooked. You’ll find this throughout the claws and body. It’s bland, but definitely edible.

7. The Roe
The roe (unfertilized eggs) in the body of a female lobster is dark green when raw, but turns bright red when cooked. It is tasty on its own, but is also used in sauces, bisques, and stocks.

8. The Tail
Pinch near the top of the tail and twist to pull it from the body. Either split the tail down the center with a knife or squeeze the edges of the tail shell together and then pull them apart, snapping the shell. The tail meat can then be removed in one piece. Pull off the sections of the tail fan at the tip for small bits of extra meat.

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The Ultimate Boat Snack

In Season: Lobster

Posted to New York Magazine by nymagstaff on June 20, 2008

Click to Play | View Details

Jose Luis Martinez shows how to extract the most lobster meat.

Mermaid Inn chef Jose Luis Martinez suggests a lobster-sandwich recipe that should be prepared in advance and eaten onboard your skiff. Makes 6 sandwiches.

6 2-pound lobsters
1 small red onion, finely diced
4 stalks celery, finely diced
12 sprigs chive
6 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
6 brioche sandwich rolls
6 tablespoons melted butter

Chop the meat into ¼-inch sections and place in a large bowl. Add the finely chopped onion, celery, chives, and lemon juice to the bowl with the lobster meat. Add mayonnaise and salt and pepper to taste.
Cut each brioche roll in half and lightly brush butter on both halves. On a griddle, place the buns buttered side down and cook until they are golden brown. Take off the griddle and place about 7 ounces of lobster salad on the roll.

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Pick (and Then Cook) a Good One

Buying
“When they pull it out of the water, its tail should be flapping,” says Brendan Hayes, retail director of the Lobster Place. “If it’s limp, that’s a sign of a soon-to-be-dead lobster.” A lobster with a softer shell has recently molted and is likely to have more water weight and less meat. Cook within 24 hours of purchase.

Cooking
While it’s popular to boil lobsters, steaming with a small amount of salt water helps retain juice and flavor. Put about an inch of water in a covered pot, adding 2 tablespoons of salt for every quart, bring to a rolling boil, and place the lobsters in. A 1½-pound lobster should cook for about 15 minutes, while a 4-to-5 pounder should cook for 22 to 24 minutes, at which point the body will be bright red.

Read more about lobster in New York Magazine.

We love lobsters. In fact, we think they rock. Hard. So here we’ll be talking about lobsters, giving you recipes, lobster history and fun facts, and keeping you apprised of the lobster industry.

And we’ll have some pretty pictures of lobsters too, because one of us is a lobster-obsessed photographer.

Thanks for joining us, let’s get cracking!