Fresh, local lobster is a great Summer treat, whether you live on the coast or get to visit on vacation.
While that sweet, tender and succulent flesh is undeniably irresistible, there is always the question of how to get it out of the shell! Read on the find out the best technique for getting the most out of your lobster, what utensils to use and a classic lobster thermidor recipe.
Start with a whole-cooked lobster. Grab the tail at the top, towards the body, twist and pull away from the body to separate; use a knife to cut the tail down the centre splitting it lengthways, or squeeze the edges towards the bottom together until they give a bit and then pull them apart to break the shell.
You should be able to remove the tail meat in one piece. Don't forget to pull off the tail fan sections at the tip for the bits of meat that hide at the end of the tail.
If you're lucky, the tail will have had a row of bright red roe (lobster eggs) along the tip of the shell where you split it. Eat the roe straight-up or save and stir into part sour cream and part cream cheese for a delicious spread. You can also simply stir it into seafood soups.
Crack those claws:
Pull the claws with a slight twist away from the body to separate them. Pull the smaller, thumb-like part of the claw as far as it will go away from the rest of the claw, then pull it a bit more to break it off. With a cracker or a heavy knife break the claw shell and pull out the meat, this is where small forks come in handy.
A lobster pick, or lobster fork is a long, narrow utensil used to extract meat from the joints, legs, claws and other small parts of the shellfish. These forks are usually made of stainless steel and weigh about as much as an average teaspoon.
The knuckles:
The knuckles join the claws and the body – they hold some very sweet and tender meat. Use a cracker or heavy knife to break them into pieces and then use a lobster fork to poke the meat out.
You'll notice light green, mustard stuff found in the body cavity where you broke off the tail. That's the lobster tomalley, or the liver and pancreas. Some people love it, some people are too squeamish to try it and other people prefer to mix it into other dishes.
Whether you eat the tomalley or not, there is some meat at the front of the body cavity worth seeking out. Split the body down the centre (your thumbs should do the job) and use a lobster fork to pick out the meat.
Finally, dedicated lobster eaters will break off the six little ‘walking’ legs and suck the meat out of them. There's not enough in there to fill anyone up, but it's something to do and will definitely make you feel like you ate all of that lobster!
Lobster thermidor is such an amazing dish which is making a retro comeback on dinner tables and in restaurants around the country. It is a French recipe consisting of tender chunks of lobster bathed in a creamy sauce that is then stuffed back into its own shell, topped with cheese and baked until golden and bubbling.
The dish was created in 1894 at Maries, a Parisian restaurant located near the Comédie Française, to honour the opening of a play titled ‘Thermidor’ by Victorien Sardou. Similar to lobster Newburg, thermidor is made with a béchamel sauce typically flavoured with wine or cognac and seasoned with mustard instead of nutmeg.
