Lobsta Madness

I thought while we were out celebrating my Dad's birthday today, that I'd have some lobster. It's in season now, and I've only ever had it one other time (and even then, only the tail), and as a Nova Scotian, that simply wouldn't do! We are well known for out lobster, after all...

My mother's brothers and their kids can each finish off a lobster in under 10 minutes - I have fond childhood memories of get-togethers where they would have a huge lobster boil. Out would come the bibs, claw-breakers, and melted butter, and they would just inhale lobster after lobster, the live ones still scuttling around the kitchen floor, awaiting their turn in the pot. They REALLY enjoyed the whole experience! But I couldn't bring myself to try it - I'm not good at eating things that still have their eyes on. :)

So, I thought it was time to try it again. However, when I ordered a 1/2 lobster, I assumed for some reason that that meant just the tail (1/2 the meat is in there, after all). But I was rather taken aback to get an entire half lobster on my plate, split lengthwise. Woah! It had an eye, and an antenna, and legs and all sorts of other bits. I was stumped! And sitting at a table full of Nova Scotians, none of whom had eaten a lobster before either! :D My Dad helped, first by covering the eye over for me delicately with a lettuce leaf from the bed of lettuce the lobster was served on, and secondly by eating the little legs for me. Thanks Pa!

These pictures tell the story rather well:

Before Talking to the Waitress

"Lost at sea" - I have no freakin' clue what to do - could I look more tentative? I spent a lot of time poking at the lobster with the long stick, and getting to know the anatomy of the lobster better. (It was quite interesting, really, I'd never seen one that close-up before). As it turns out, most of the meat is in the tail and the claws, with a little for more intrepid eaters in the front of the body.

After Talking to the Waitress

God love her, she walked me through step by step! And look at me now, beaming with confidence, tossin' around a lobster claw like I've been doing this my whole life! Like the bib? heh heh heh

It's not easy to see on the pic, but there are some sharp-ish bumps on parts of the claw, which the waitress warned me about ahead of time, so keep that in mind as you're separating the joints.


So, if you don't want this to happen to you (you don't know if you'll have as helpful a waitress as I did!), check out this illustrated guide: - incredibly helpful, wish I had read it before I went out!

And thanks to the Dartmouth Boomerang's and their very helpful staff - always a great meal to be had (for real, TRY THE CATALINA DRESSING on your salad!! They make it themselves (actually, they make everything themselves there, except for the ketchup) - it is totally amazing!)