Loving Lobster

Summer's finally here, and lobsters come to mind. People shy away from cooking lobsters for a variety of reasons. They're expensive. People can be queasy about cooking lobsters live. They are ugly -lobsters were used in 1950's B science fiction movies to represent evil alien invaders. And learning to eat one for the first time really requires personal instruction.

But for shellfish lovers, nothing tastes better. Lobster has more natural sweetness than crab or shrimp. Cooking a lobster is certainly easy - all you need to know is how to boil water. And, as a special occasion food, there is a joyous ambience at a table of people wrestling with lobsters.

There are two kinds of lobster found in the U.S. The Maine or true lobster found along the Eastern seaboard has both edible claws and tail. The spiny lobster found in warmer Southern waters is really a sea dwelling crayfish and has only an edible tail. There are other lobsters around the world, but the Maine lobster is the most readily available.

By law, a lobster must be one pound when caught - about 5-6 years old - and without visible roe or eggs. Available lobsters are usually 1 - 2 1/2 pounds. One pound lobsters are classified as chickens; as they get bigger they are called selects, large, and jumbo. Occasionally, you will see culls, i.e. lobsters with only one claw. These are cheaper and usually a good buy for lobster salad or stew.

Live lobsters are brown, green, or blue - they turn red when cooked. They are not cuddly, but are cannibals, which is why the bands around their claws are so important. Mothers even eat their larvae. Like all crustaceans, lobsters are Arthropods, i.e. in the same family with insects, hence their nickname of ocean bugs.

The claws are interesting as they are not alike. The larger claw has coarse teeth for crushing, and the smaller has fine teeth for ripping. Lobsters can be left or right handed depending on which is the larger claw, but it makes no different in flavor.

It is extremely unlikely that a lobster feels anything when cooked. They have a very primitive nervous system and also lack the brain area that feels pain. Any twitching after being added to the pot is due to nervous reflexes. They have no vocal cords, so any whistling heard from the pot is due to air escaping from the body cavity as it expands from heat. If you have a concern about cooking a live lobster, putting it in the freezer for 10 15 minutes will effectively sedate it.

Lobsters grow by molting, i.e. shedding their shell and growing a new one. This usually occurs in mid summer. A recently molted lobster will have a soft shell and the cavity will contain a lot water. Cooks are divided on whether soft lobsters are a good buy. Some believe that a recently molted lobster has the sweetest meat. Others resent paying by the pound for water. If you're concerned, when purchasing press the shell around the mid-body.

Lobsters need to be alive before cooking as intestinal bacteria spreads very fast after death. Any lobster you buy should be lively, but at a minimum its tail should curl under when you pick it up. If you buy already cooked lobsters, the tail should be curled unless it had been tied to a stick, ruler or something to keep it straight during cooking.

Luckily, lobsters can live out of water for 36 - 48 hours, but they need a cool, moist environment. If not cooking them immediately, wrap them in damp cloth or newspaper, put them in a heavy paper bag, and refrigerate. Do not store in fresh water or on ice as lobsters have salty blood and tissue and fresh water in any form will kill them. If you need to hold them longer, partially cook them, i.e. boil them for 6 minutes, and then refrigerate. You can finish cooking them in more boiling water, on the grill, or in the oven.

There is no consensus as to which of two classic cooking techniques - boiling and steaming - is better, so do whichever is most comfortable. To boil, heat 6 quarts of hot water, add 6 tablespoons of salt, and plunge up to four lobsters in head first. Cover the pot, bring back to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes if the lobsters are one pound, and 13 minutes if two pounders.

Use the same approach for steaming, filling the pot with two inches of water, only cook them 13 or 16 minutes, respectively. To see if the lobster is done, one of the long antennas should pull out easily. When finished, if you want to be nice to your eaters, make a small cut between the eyes, and hold by the tail over a sink to drain any excess water.

A few notes about the gunk youll find in a lobster. When cooking, you'll notice white, foamy stuff in the water; this is fat or protein and is harmless. When you open up a female lobster, you'll sometimes see red eggs - these are black when uncooked. They're considered a delicacy. You will also find green gunk (technically tomalley), which is the lobster's liver. While some find it delicious, you should eat it only if you are confident the lobster did not come from polluted water.