Text 8035, 79 rader
Skriven 2013-12-20 08:42:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: lobsters 611
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I promised a word on lobsters. Annie, as an indulgence for
the two of us, got a couple 1 1/4 lbers. I'd have preferred
to split a 2 1/2, but she has the commonly held impression
that bigger ones aren't as good, an opinion I don't share.

These were from Wegmans and had been in a tank for some
time. They had not suffered from the experience and were
exceptionally frisky when I met them, so I did the
hypnotizing trick - you scratch the carapace behind the
eyes, and they calm right down. If you don't do it enough
they wake up again when they hit the water, so I did these
for at least a couple minutes after they went limp.

Annie has a flat pan that holds two of this size snugly,
and we brought an inch of water to the boil and put them
in. They didn't move a muscle until they were both red
and dead. I quite seriously believe they didn't feel a
thing as they steamed, as there was nary a rattle or
wheeze as the water heated. I gave them 10 minutes,
flipping once.

I gave her the (slightly) bigger one, knowing that the
body would be ceded to me. It was a guy. Mine was an
immature female, with the beginning of roe around the
digestive canal, no more than a few grams. She was rather
tough, a big surprise; the boy was tenderer. Flavor was
good but not intense and cried out for massive amounts of
butter. So I had massive amounts of butter.

Annie also had some baguette, I think from Wegmans.
Nothing else was necessary.

Peju Sauvignon Blanc (Napa) 11 was actually a fit
accompaniment for the meal - strong citrus and gooseberry
flavors with a bit of mango and peach and not so much cat
pee. It allowed me to eat down to the coagulating last
bits of butter without unduly coating my tongue and palate.

=

Here's a rundown on what I've learned about lobster lore
in recent times.

I learned from Seymour Britchky that the meat ratio increases
exponentially as the size increases. More recently I've seen
challenges to this information (including here, where I
defended Mr. Britchky) to the point that the claim is made
that the ratio doesn't increase at all. In recent experience
I discover that the meat ratio does increase but at a rather
slow rate. What does improve is the availability of the body
meat (the muscles that work the legs get bigger and the
cartilage separating them stiffens, so you can get nice big
lumps of meat, whereas with little lobsters all you get is
strands). I am quite convinced that Britchky's doctrine
holds for tomalley and eggs, which are the best parts of
the animal.

The idea that smaller lobsters are tenderer - not exactly.
If you cut the meat of a big lobster across the grain, it is
just as tender as any little one; but we are not accustomed
to doing so, and if we do the normal thing so the fibers are
intact, bigger means stronger and tougher. The bigger the
lobster the better it is to cut it up before cooking, and
the better stir-frying is than the standard methods.

The idea that smaller lobsters are sweeter - this is
possibly true to some degree. In my experience, jumbos taste
pretty much the same up to at least 5 lb, but the unsweetness
of the recently encountered 19 lber was surprising.

Otto claims that the bigger ones make up in the flavor
department what they lose in sweetness. I don't think that's
true at all. I found the 19 guy had a very fine flavor, but
that flavor was exceedingly delicate, to the point that
Otto's Ch. Doisy-Daene overpowered the tail meat.

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