Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Lure Of The Sea and Lobster Rolls

Yesterday morning had that summery feel to it. The temperature was warm and the air was slightly moist with the salt of the sea and had the scent of the emerging surf. I went for a walk (with my camera, of course!) and ran into Joe, a local fisherman. He leads a Thoreau like life by the sea. In between fishing and lobstering and keeping an eye on the dock, he makes lobster trap coffee tables that are works of art. We chatted for a while by the landing and then he got into his dingy and rowed out to his lobster boat Bertha, to start his day. I then wandered over to a friends house and still having the thought of lobsters wafting through my head, we made a plan to get some from Joe and make lobster rolls. I had the easy job of getting the rolls and my friend would arrange to get the lobsters from Joe. Since we are too squeamish, chicken, or want to step away from that "dropping live lobsters into boiling water" part of the process, Joe cooked them for us, too. What a man! Sunday morning he walked over with a pot full of bright, orange red cooked lobsters(I still felt guilty looking at those accusing eyes). Five of us donned aprons, and armed with lobster crackers and picks we filled a pretty good sized bowl with sweet tender lobster meat. The traditional New England Lobster Roll is lobster meat mixed with just a little mayonnaise and stuffed inside a top cut, hot dog bun that has been toasted in butter. Breaking away from the traditional boring hot dog bun, I used brioche buns that are a little richer, without overpowering the lobster. We took a vote and also added a squeeze of lemon and some fresh tarragon picked straight from the herb garden. We were careful not to gussy it up too much and deviate from it's natural simplicity. Less is more here. The old adage that "many hands make light work" was true, as we were soon spooning the lobster into the toasted rolls. After the platter was full, we sat down to my friend's table overlooking the sea and local boats, and whiled away the afternoon dining, chatting and reflecting on how blessed we all are.
Written and photographed by Diane.

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