Many excellent cooks, cooks who think nothing of attempting the most difficult dishes, do not want to tackle a lobster. Yet, in the realm of good eating, few foods outrank this shellfish. Indeed, the lobster is almost a symbol of fine cuisine. Consider the elegant functions you have intended, from formal dinners to Champagne suppers, or the spécialitiés of great restaurants. Again and again you see the lobster playing an important role. In other words, if you aim at haute cuisine, you cannot overlook lobsters. Mais oui even a primer series should include a lesson on this subject. However, just reading the lesson is not enough. You must go into the kitchen and work with lobsters repeatedly until you can handle them as easily as bacon and eggs.
My own experiences with lobsters fall into three chapters, the first during my apprenticeship at the Paris Ritz. I knew I had to learn to cook this arranged food, because any chef who wanted to get ahead had to be able to cook everything. I was a mere sous chef working under the potager, but I used every spare moment watching and learning the skills of the other chefs—including the seafood chef. The second chapter began when I became chef da la cuisine of the old New York Ritz. There I taught the young cooks on my staff how to prepare the lobster dishes preferred by our shellfish connoisseurs. Finally, my third and last experience came during the late thirties and early forties, when I spent my vacation in Maine at the home of a friend who supplied a large percentage of the lobsters that went to the New York market.
In Maine, I learned the fascinating details of lobster fishing and all its many problems. Those bronzed Maine lobstermen who go out in their boars in all kinds of weather, foul and fair, to haul in the filled lobster pots and to bait them again, must make the protection of lobsters their first concern. Before a lobster grows to the size required for eating, many years elapse—four or five for the pound to pound-and-a-quarter size, and seven to ten years for the popular pound-and-three-quarters to two-pound size—long enough for them to be outwitted by their enemies of the deep. However, the most vulnerable time for a lobster occurs during its first days. Then it rises to the surface of the ocean, floating there before it drops to the bottom, and provides a rare delicacy for the thousands of sea gulls along the coast. Large fish go after these tidbits. too. eating many of the tiny lobsters.
But enough lobsters survive to grow to maturity, fortunately for gourmets.
Lobsters in the market weigh between one and four pounds. In must states with a lobster industry, those under a pound must be returned to the sea to grow larger and those over four pounds must be-saved for roseeding. They must be alive and green when you buy them, to yield their most succulent flavor. Do not cook any but the freshest lobsters. People living in sections where local markets never carry lobsters can now get them shipped overnight from East Coast suppliers. These arrive in such excellent condition that I have friends who prefer to buy lobsters this way, even though the local markets carry them.
The number of lobsters to buy depends upon their size and the manner of their preparation. Most people will eat a whole boiled or broiled lobster if it weighs one and one-half pounds or less. People who especially relish lobster think that a whole one weighing as much as two pounds is not too much for one person, although most of us find a half lobster of this size sufficient. Of course, if you are using the meat in a salad, combining it with celery and mayonnaise, or in a dish with considered sauce, the two- to three-pound lobsters are more economical. Two of these will make five to six servings. Whatever size you select, you must cook them as soon as possible.
It is customary to discard the intestinal vein and the little stomach sac from which it starts. The grayish, fringy-looking parts in the upper body are not eaten because they arc spongy and tasteless. But the dark greenish-gray liver, or tomalley, which turns a bright green when cooked, is a great delicacy. When making dishes like lobster à l'américaine, a chef removes the tomalley from the raw lobster and uses it to thicken the sauce. The roe, a bright coral color when cooked, also offers a delicate flavor.
If you decide to broil your lobsters, you can ask the fish dealer to split them. However, it is best to learn how to do this yourself. First, practice picking up a lobster by the top side of its body just behind the head—it can't nip you if you hold it that way. Nor can the tail grip and cut you, because it always curls under the body. You must work with a big, strong, very sharp knife having a good point. A quick, clean cut through the tough shell and body flesh is your aim. The cutting board on which you work must be heavy and strong, too.
There are two ways of splitting a lobster. You can lay it on the board with either the underside or the outside shell uppermost. In my opinion, the first way is better for small young lobsters and the second way for larger heavier ones. Either way, plunge the point of the knife into the lobster directly at the point where the body and tail meet, to sever the spinal cord. Willi small lobsters, many cooks prefer to leave enough of the back shell uncut so that the two halves hold together when opened up. For this purpose, spread the lobster out on the board, shell side down, and, after severing the spinal cord, cut through the body and tail without cutting quite through the back shell at the center, and then open it up. But cutting a large lobster in two separate halves can be done more easily if you work from the shell side. Spread it out on the board with the shell side up, and, after severing the spinal cord, plunge the point of the knife in again and cut up through the body, then in again and down through the tail. In cither case, after turning up the halves to keep the flesh intact in the half shells, remove the intestinal vein and stomach sac. Finally, with the dull'edge of your big knife, crack each side of the two large claws.
Sometimes you have more lobsters than a broiler pan will hold. In that case, cut off the big claws and fit them around the split bodies which have been arranged in the center of the broiler pan.
Broiled Lobster
Select absolutely fresh lobsters, about 1 ¼ pounds each, and allow 1 lobster per serving. Remove the claws, if desired, split the lobsters lengthwise, and discard the intestinal veins and stomach sacs. With a heavy knife, hit each side of each big claw once 10 crack it. Season the lobsters with salt and pepper, and place them, split side up, on the broiler. Spread Out the claws. or, if they have been removed, arrange them around the bodies. Brush the lobsters generously with melted butter, brushing a little into the cracks of the claws. Broil them for 15 to 18 minutes in a preheated broiler, placing the pan far enough from the heat so that they will not scorch. Serve the broiled lobsters with melted butter and garnish them with lemon wedges.
Most of the dishes made with cooked lobster meat are based on boiled lobster, but lobster Thermidor is the exception that starts with baked lobster.
Lobster Thermidor
Split lengthwise 3 lobsters, weighing 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds each, and remove and crack the claws. Discard the intestinal veins and stomach sac, and season the lobsters with salt and pepper. Put 2 tablespoons olive oil in a flat pan, lay the lobsters and claws on it, and bake them for 15 to 18 minutes in a very hot oven (450° F.). Remove the lobster meat from the shells, dice it, and reserve it.
To 2 tablespoons melted butter, in a saucepan, add 3 shallots, chopped, and ½ cup dry white wine, and cook until the wine is reduced to one-fourth its original quantity. Add 1 teaspoon each of English mustard and chopped parsley, and 2 cups Mornay saute (January, 1958), and cook the sauce, stirring briskly with a whip, just enough to end the ingredients. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper, and mix the diced lobster meat with two-thirds the sauce. Put a spoonful of the reserved sauce in the bottom of each shell, fill it with the lobster mixture, and top with the remaining sauce mixed with 1 tablespoon whipped cream. Sprinkle the lobsters with grated Parmesan and bread crumbs and set them under a hot broiler until the topping is evenly browned.
I've noticed how many people, including those who live where lobsters are abundant, like them steamed, or boiled in water or sea water, and served hot with lemon and melted butter, or cold with lemon and mayonnaise. Boiling is by far the easiest way to cook lobsters. They are merely dropped whole into a large kettle of boiling sailed water—or court bouillon, which gives a bit of added savor to the meat—and cooked for 20 to 25 minutes, depending upon their size, if they are to be served hot. If they are to be served cold or used in lobster dishes, they are cooked for 15 minutes, allowed to cool in the conking liquid, and then chilled. At serving time, crack the claws well, split the body and tail down the center as already explained, and place the lobsters on the serving dish with the cut sides up. If you are serving them hot, you may need to wear gloves—they are pretty hot to handle. Watch out, too, for the juice which is apt to spurt out when they are cut.
Many lobster dishes call for boiled lobster meat. To prepare the cooked meat, remove the lobster from the water in which it has cooled, cut off the claws, and split the body and tail down the center. The lobster meat may then be removed easily. Because the claw meat is often used for garnishing many lobster dishes, hotel chefs take care to extract the claw meat in one piece. For this purpose, cut off the claw at the first joint and break off the small pincer. Lay the large pincer down on the board and, with the cutting edge of a sharp heavy knife, hit it about one inch from the joint. Then turn it over and do the same on the other side. Now pick up the pincer with your left hand and pull off the pointed end of the shell. The shell will separate at the place where you cut it, leaving the claw meat in one piece. The remainder of the claw meat, below the joint, will also come out easily.
Boiled Lobster
Plunge 3 lobsters, weighing 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds each, into a kettle filled with boiling court bouillon or salted water. If the lobsters are to be served hot, cook them for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on their size. Remove the cooked lobsters, split them lengthwise, and discard the intestinal veins and stomach sacs, Crack the claws and place the lobsters, cut side up, on a serving platter and garnish the platter with lemon wedges. Serve the lobsters with melted butter.
If the lobsters are to be served cold, cook them for 15 minutes, remove the kettle from the heat, and cool the lobsters in the cooking liquid for 15 minutes. Remove the lobsters from the kettle, cool them further, and chill them. Split the bodies, discard the intestinal veins and stomach sacs, and crack the claws. Serve the lobsters with lemon wedges and mayonnaise.
Court Bouillon for Boiling Lobster
To a large kettle full of water, add 2 onions and 2 carrots, all sliced, 2 cups vinegar, 4 tablespoons salt, 20 peppercorns, 4 bay leaves, 4 sprigs of parsley, 2 stalks of celery, 2 cloves of garlic, and thyme to taste. Bring the water to a boil and simmer the court bouillon for 30 minutes.
Croquettes de Homard (Lobster Croquettes)
Remove the meat from 2 boiled lobsters, weighing 1 ¾ to 2 pounds each, chop it very fine, and sauté it in 1 tablespoon melted butter. To 2 cups thick béchamel sauce (January, 1958), add 4 egg yolks, lightly beaten, and cook the sauce over low heat until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add the lobster meat, spread the mixture in a flat buttered dish, and chill it. Form the chilled lobster mixture into croquettes. Roll the croquettes in flour, dip them in 2 eggs beaten with ½ cup milk and 2 tablespoons salad oil, and coat the croquettes in bread crumbs. Sauté the croquettes in butter or fry them in deep hot fat (370° F.) until they are brown. Drain the croquettes on paper toweling and serve them with cream sauce (January, 1958).
Lobster Cocktail à la Ritz
Remove the meat from 2 boiled lobsters, weighing 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds each, and cut it into small pieces. Add 1 heart of celery, diced, and 1 heart of lettuce, chopped. Make a dressing by mixing together 3 tablespoons each of mayonnaise (page 56) and Russian dressing (page 56), 1 tablespoon each of chili sauce and Worcestershire sauce, l tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped, and 1 teaspoon each of chives and parsley, both chopped. Combine the dressing with the lobster mixture and serve the cocktails on beds of lettuce.
Cold Lobster Figaro
Boil 3 lobsters, 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds each, in court bouillon for 15 minutes, and cool them in the liquid. Drain the lobsters well, split them in half lengthwise, and discard the intestinal veins and stomach sacs. Remove the tomalleys and reserve them, and discard the gray fringe from the upper body. Cut off the claws, crack them, and remove the meat. Remove the meat in each of the tail sections in 2 pieces, trim the edges to give them shape, and reserve the tail pieces. Finely chop the claw meat and tail trimmings, and add the reserved tomalleys, 1 cup crab meat, and 2 tablespoons mixed chives, chervil, and tarragon. Add 3 tablespoons chili sauce and 6 tablespoons mayonnaise. Fill the lobster halves with this mixture, arrange the strips of tail meat on them, and garnish the lobsters with thin strips of pimiento, anchovy filets, and capers. Coat the filled lobsters with clear aspic (August, 1957) and serve them with mayonnaise (page 56) or green sauce (page 56).
Lobster à la Parisienne
Boil in court bouillon 3 lobsters, weighing 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds each. Cool the lobsters and remove and crack the claws. Split the lobsters lengthwise and discard the intestinal veins and stomach sacs. Arrange the lobsters, cut side up, on a serving platter and garnish the platter with vegetable salad, thinly sliced cucumbers, and wedges of hard-cooked egg. Serve the lobster à la parisienne with mayonnaise (page 56) or green sauce (page 56).
Some lobster dishes call for cutting the uncooked lobster into pieces, or splitting it and sautéing it in oil or butter. The lobster is then cooked with seasoning and various other ingredients, and is finally served in a very delicious sauce. These dishes will really show off your skill as a cook.
Lobster Newberg
Remove and crack the claws of 2 lobsters, weighing 1 ¾ to 2 pounds each. Cut the tail sections away from the bodies and cut the tails crosswise into 3 or 4 pieces each. Split the body sections lengthwise, remove the intestinal veins and stomach sacs, and season the meat with salt and pepper. Saute the lobster pieces in 3 tablespoons melted butter for 4 minutes. Add 2 shallots or 1 small onion, chopped, 3 ounces dry Sherry, and 1 ½ cups cream, and simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Remove the cooked lobster pieces from the pan and take the meat from the shells.
Reduce the sauce to one-third its original quantity, add 2 tablespoons thick sauce velouté (January, 1958), and finish the sauce with ¼ cup cream. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve and stir in another 3 ounces Sherry. Return the sauce to the pan, add the lobster meat, and simmer it for 2 minutes, or until the meat is heated through. Serve the lobster Newberg on coast points and accompany it with rice.
Lobster Grazielli
Remove and crack the claws of 2 lobsters, weighing 1 ¾ to 2 pounds each. Cut away the tail sections from the bodies, and cut the tails crosswise into 3 slices each. Split the body sections lengthwise, discard the intestinal veins and stomach sacs, and season the meat with salt and pepper. Sauté the lobster pieces in 3 tablespoons melted butter for 5 minutes. Add 2 shallots or 1 small onion, chopped, 3 ounces dry Sherry, and 1 ¼ cups cream. Bring the sauce to a boil, cover the pan tightly, and simmer the lobster for 20 minutes. Remove the lobster from the sauce and take the meat from the shells.
Reduce the sauce to one-third its original quantity, and rub it through a line sieve. Sauté 4 mushrooms in 1 tablespoon butter until they are soft, and add 3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped. Cook the tomatoes for 10 minutes, add the sauce, and cook it for 5 minutes longer. The sauce should be light, but if it needs a little thickening, add 2 tablespoons thick sauce velouté (January, 1958). Correct the seasoning with salt and finish the sauce with ¼ cup each of cream and brandy. Add the lobster meat to the sauce and serve it with rice.
Lobster à l'Américaine
Remove and crack the claws of 2 lobsters, weighing 1 ¾ to 2 pounds each. Cut the tail sections from the bodies and cut the tails crosswise in 3 or 4 slices. Split the body sections lengthwise and discard the intestinal veins and stomach sacs. Remove the tomalleys and reserve them. Salt the lobster meat and the shells and sauté the pieces in ¼ cup hot olive oil for 6 minutes, or until the shells turn red.
Make a mirepoix bordelaise as follows: In 1 tablespoon melted butter sauté 1 carrot and 1 small onion, both finely chopped, until they are lightly browned. Season the vegetables with a pinch of thyme, a bay leaf, and a sprig of parsley. Add to the mirepoix the sautéed lobster pieces and add 1 tablespoon butter, 2 shallots or 1 small onion, Chopped, and ½ cup dry white wine, and sprinkle with ¼ cup brandy. Ignite the liqueur, and when the flame dies down, add ½ cup tomato purée, ½ cup fish stock or white wine, 1 clove of garlic, crushed, and 3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped. Cover the pan tightly and cook the lobster mixture 20 minutes. Remove the lobster pieces and take the meat from the shells. Strain the sauce. Cream the reserved tomalleys with 2 tablespoons butter and 1 teaspoon flour, and add ½ clove of garlic, crushed, and finely chopped chervil and tarragon to taste. Add the tomlley mixture to the sauce and reheat it, but do not allow it to boil. Add the lobster meat, correct the seasoning with salt, and cook for 2 minutes longer, or until the meat is heated through. Serve the lobster à l'américaine with boiled rice.
Fumet de Poisson (Fisb Stock)
In a buttered saucepan put 1 pound chopped raw fish bones and trimmings with 1 onion, thinly sliced, 4 sprigs of parsley and 6 peppercorns. Cover the pan and simmer the vegetables for 15 minutes. Add 3 cups water and 3 cups dry white wine, season with a pinch of salt, and simmer the mixture gently for 30 minutes. Strain the stock before using it. This will make approximately 1 quart.
Cold Lobster Soufflé
Remove and crack the claws of 2 lobsters, weighing 1 ¾ to 2 pounds each. Cut the tail sections from the bodies and cut the tails crosswise into 3 slices Split the body sections lengthwise and discard the intestinal veins and stomach sacs. Salt the lobster meat and the shells and sauté the pieces in ¼ cup hot olive oil for 6 minutes, or until the shells turn red, Remove the meat from the tails and claws and reserve it.
Remove the remaining lobster meal from the shells and pound it very fine, or put it through the finestade of the food chopper. Add 1 cop bechamel sauce (January, 1958), 3 tablespoons sweet butter, and I cup liquid aspic (August, 1957). Force the mixture through a fine sieve into a saucepan, place the pan in a bowl filled with crushed ice, and end the mixture well. Fold in 1 cup cream, whipped stiff. Cut off a few thin slices of the tail meat and reserve them. Dice finely the remaining tail meat, and fold the dice into the lobster-and-cream mixture.
Line a soufflé mold with heavy wax paper that protrudes about ¾ inch above the top of the mold, and pour the mixture to the level of the top of the paper. Chill the soufflé in the refrigerator for 2 hours, or until it is set. Run a thin knife between the paper and the soufflé, and carefully lift away the paper. Garnish the top of the soufflé with the reserved claw meat and slices of tail meat, coat them lightly with clear aspic, and return the soufflé to the refrigerator until the aspic is set.