Interesting bit of info we noticed on the Lobster Wikipedia page:

“Recent research has led scientists to believe that lobsters may be one of a small number of species which do not die of aging. Lobsters do not slow down, weaken, or lose fertility with age. In fact, older lobsters are more fertile than younger lobsters. The reason for this indefinite longevity is said to be due to telomerase, an enzyme that repairs DNA sequences. … In fact, lobsters may exhibit negligible senescence, in that they effectively live indefinitely, barring injury, disease, capture, etc.“

Hi Friends! Hope you had a wonderful weekend. We did not eat lobster, but we ate our weight in lox, so all is well.

One of the things we’ll be discussing here from time to time is lobster “gear”, or lobster design. A quick assessment of our apartment reveals lobster accouterments of nearly every sort, so we’ll have to roll these out slowly.

And we’ll start with a golden, sequined, lobster pillow, from my dear friend Kara Canal. Kara is an artist, but did not make this pillow.

this is an orginal 1956 herman miller eames chair i love it more than any lobster thing, i must confess.

pillow also feels quite at home on a wassily chair.

Kara spied the pillow brilliantly, at Z Gallerie, where at THIS VERY MOMENT it is half price. Don’t tell me I never did anything for you.

Sequined pillow sometimes sits about with handmade pillow, which was given to me by yet another brilliantartistfriend, Cory Treadway.

I think they make a nice pair.

Today’s it’s-a-blizzard-outside-and-we-wish-were-eating-lobster-on-a-pier Picture of the Day is a portrait of Robert Pattinson, taken by Bruce Weber for Vanity Fair.

We shall dub it “Rob Lobster”, to match the B-52s.

Perhaps we’ll develop a whole section devoted to celebrities and their crustaceans. That seems like a good use of time.

It’s an especially snowy day in Brooklyn, and we’re tempted not to leave the apartment at all. Seems like a good day for a nonsense 80’s dance song that’s sort of about lobsters.

So, yeah, I thought it would be fun to make lobster dip for the Super Bowl. Or, really, I thought we’d have a Super Bowl party Sunday so that I could try to make lobster dip. I’d seen a couple of recipes, and it seemed like a fairly easy maneuver — the kind of thing I could do without a proper recipe.

Rachel was away for the weekend, eating oysters (pic below), and so I headed over to Fish Tales on Court Street, which had given us really excellent lobsters in the past. They’re on the pricey side, but usually very fresh. This time, not so much. The guy I got barely moved at all when I put him out on the kitchen table. A vague twitching of antennae was the only indication he would give. I don’t know why, but it seems sadder to cook a lobster that hasn’t just been vigorously moving around in the kitchen a few moments before — I guess a lot of people would say the opposite.

Anyhow, after he was cooked and shucked, I started combining ingredients in the blender. Like I often do, I basically approximated what I remembered of the recipes I’d seen online, not really paying as much attention to amounts of things. Take the lobster meat, add a little cayenne pepper, some light cream cheese, artichoke hearts, scallions, and Worcestershire sauce, press blend, and hope for the best.

In this case, I didn’t quite get the best. The dip wasn’t bad, objectively, but my other ingredients had completely obliterated the taste of the lobster — leaving me with a ton of dip that tasted pretty much the same as the can of Utz I could have bought for $3.

Susan from the Red Hook Lobster Pound (whose lobsters we’ve not yet tried, but will in the very near future) writes that my problem was probably lack of lobster concentration: “You would really need to make a very reduced lobster stock to add in order to make any cream base taste like lobster.”

Anyhow, here’s Rachel and her oysters. She seemed to have better luck with her project than I did with mine.

photo by Grant Cornett

SO I spent the weekend eating oysters, which was very exhausting. But I did have time to chat on the emails with the lovely Alison over at Fine Lobster, who not only loves lobster as much as we do, but is also engaged and allowed me to to freak out ask questions about how to plan a wedding.

Alison’s blog has some wonderful lobster content, and we’re gonna reprint a piece about WEST COAST lobster. This flavor lobster is completely foreign to us, sadly, so it’s good to get the 411.

Check it out!

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California’s Channel Island Lobstering

It is hard to convince a New Englander there is a bug that a lobsterman can catch in warmer waters that rivals the Maine lobster. Many debates take place between foodies and fishermen alike, and in “Maine vs. Pacific Lobster,” we learn that some believe oversea demand drives up cost and diminishes supplies closer to home. Others think the best West Coast lobster comes out of Puerto Nuevo, Mexico, and often refer to it as ‘Crack Town’ for the lobster addict.

The truth is that spiny lobster is generally very similar to Maine lobster except they are from warmer waters such as California, Brazil and the Caribbean, have no claws, only the tail meat can be eaten and their shells have a different pattern. Many say the taste is much sweeter while others say they would never touch it, but strong opinions are held by all.

An ideal location to harvest spiny lobster is California, off the southern coast among the famous Channel Islands. While the northern most parts of the chain belong to the Channel Island National Park and are protected from commercial fishing, a few seasoned hunters who know this is a hot spot didn’t waste time getting out there to dive and hunt for their favorite crustacean.

For this year’s season opener, Foul Hole Divers certainly avoided the foul holes! In fact, it seems they hit a gold mine of huge bugs between 4 and 5 pounds a piece off San Miguel, one of the northern-most islands and the alleged final resting place for famous explorer Juan Cabrillo.

Beyond a hobby, Ted Fukumoto of Foul Hole is refining an art, the art of hunting combined with his love of the ocean. He organizes regular trips for small groups of less than 20, utilizing Santa Barbara’s Truth Aquaticsfleet and crew. Diving for lobster is quite different from what the lobstermen of New England are used to. No tools or equipment are allowed so one has to grab them by hand—a much safer endeavor since they do not have claws like their east coast cousins!

For the tourists, the most popular of all the islands in the chain is Santa Catalina, and this island’s land and water are famous for more than spiny lobster. The memories of one Catalina natives and regulars include the lobster season, as well as other critters that live on and around the island. The flying fish are not the only hazard to above-deck boaters because once on land one must also know how to avoid the wild boars!

For those seeking a new adventure and a new lobster, there are many diving companies that offer excursions throughout the spiny lobster season. However, don’t forget your gloves, booties and dry wet suit! While many think the waters off California are warm you might change your mind knowing the average temperatures top at 59 F for the season opener.

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About Fine Lobster:

Food Curated had a post a couple of days ago about Ben Sargent, a Boston transplant living in Brooklyn who claims New Yorkers don’t know how to make a “true” version of the Northeast lobster roll.  He’s evidently running a “questionably legal” lobster roll shack in in his basement apartment called The Underground Lobster Pound, where friends and strangers can taste what he’s talking about.

First of all, Ben: Go Yankees! World Champions! Sox a distant second!

Second: When can we come over?

Here’s a great video where he talks about his new project and explains his method for creating a proper lobster roll:

UPDATE: The Daily News has picked up Sargent’s story, so it can’t be long before someone looks into the “questionable” legality of his operation…

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.

this is me (rachel).

So the lore goes like this: It was my sixth birthday, and the extended family made a little caravan to a seafood restaurant near my grandmother’s house. Being good part-time Mainers, we had a tradition of enjoying foods from the sea, but I hadn’t ventured far from seared scallops and crab bisque. Because I was the birthday girl, I was to have my first lobster. But because I was such a young birthday girl, I was to share it with my grandmother.

Grandma went hungry that night. Or least she had to go to the salad bar twice, because I ate that whole lobster, down to the tomalley.  And after that, I was hooked.

I think lobsters serve a few purposes for me.

1.They’re epic. Having a lobster always feels like an occasion, whether it is or not. The very nature of killing something alive and eating it is not something that we do very often in our culture, so it feels of some greater importance.

2. They take some serious dismantling*. Dismantling takes time, and it’s satisfying, like a difficult puzzle. Each lobster is its own puzzle, and the prize for completing it is especially delicious.

3. It’s competitive. I love competition. I want to win, to be the best lobster dismantler. I want to discover every cranny and nook. This extends to lobster preparation, and even lobster selection. There are truly correct ways to approach a lobster, and I have worked hard to learn them.

4. They’re several meals in one. Claw meat is different from tail meat. Tomalley is in a different universe of taste altogether, and the roe is dessert. You can suck on the legs when you’re having a break.

* for this reason, I also enjoy marrow bones.

Lobsters have been there for me for many celebrations. Here I am at thirty, still going lobster-strong:

And here is my kitchen, replete with a painting David made me for that very same birthday. You see, lobsters aren’t just good to eat, they’re good to look at. Which is important, as I’m a photographer.

It’s important to mention here that lobsters can often be converted/assimilated into everyday design. This year, David got lobster shoes for Christmas. We’re going to help keep you updated here about good lobster gear.

So now we’ll get down to business: recipes, history, gear, stories will abound.  Stay tuned!