Bonus Recipe: Lobster Roll

Never Too Late

I was introduced to various lobster roll recipes late in my life when my sister-in-law settled in a  little community in Phippsburg, Maine. We, of course, being tourists, insisted on trying the ones that were on various Best Ever lists. They were all pretty unremarkable. In fact, the one that had long wait lines, with cars parked haphazardly along the sides of a two-lane road, was truly disappointing. We then tried an unlisted example from a small harbour cafe (the harbour itself was pretty much owned by Japanese seafood corporations.,  That probably had something to do with the excellence of the lobster roll, at well over $20.00 per portion.

Virginia and I persisted in trying different recipes, relying on the lobsters at $3.00 to $5.00/lb, which we could get from our beloved neighbor and lobsterman (the one who never learned how to swim). Virginia always steamed her lobsters on seaweed rather than boiling them. Another neighbor taught us to clip off the ends of the claws, which drains the liquid that accumulates within the shell. That made cracking and extracting lobster meat much less messy.  Still, recreating this treat at home seemed impossible.

Nirvana

Now that I have discovered  one pound containers of beautiful  and fresh claw and knuckle lobster meat from MAS Seafood, a small dream has been realized.  I can get lobster tails too, but have come to prefer the former. I am back to making lobster dishes from Jasper White’s book Lobster At Home. Victoria and I have earmarked several, including his Spaghetti with Lobster, Tomato and Capers or Pan Fried Lobster Dumplings with Dipping Sauce. We, along with other Holy Grail searchers in the food universe, have bowed down to Jasper White’s lobster roll recipe. And even he prefers the knuckle and claw meat for his version. 

Top loading buns (Pepperidge Farm so far wins the grocery store contest) are readily available in my neighborhood of make believe. Even so, Lobster At Home has a recipe for New England Style Hot Dog Buns, which I have targeted as a fall experiment. In my dotage, I feel it is incumbent upon me to further the lobster roll project to its proper end.  And it should be noted that the top-loading bun was created before the ubiquitous side-loading bun that hot dogs made famous. The top loading bun was created by a bakery for the Massachusetts-based Howard Johnson chain in the 1940s – and it was designed for their fried clam sandwiches. It made toasting the exterior sides easier, and the incision on top made stuffing the roll easier in production.

Having made Jasper White’s mayonnaise in the above book, I still prefer the  Mayonnaise by David Tanis I never use the full amount of oil; I think it depends on the size of the yolks. Simply add chopped fresh tarragon leaves to this mayonnaise version – don’t try dried tarragon. We did and it was dreadful.  I butter the sides of the top-loading buns (and occasionally the interiors) and saute them in a frypan first.  Then pile in Jasper White’s prepared lobster salad. The inclusion of cucumber over celery is genius.