Lobster

“ In the shell.—When the lobster is boiled, divide it in two, taking care not to break the body and large claws. The tail is then split in two, lengthwise, the flesh taken off, cut in small dice, and mixed with the inside of the lobster.
The vein found immediately under the shell, all along the flesh of the lobster, is removed as soon as it is split. The stomach, found near the head, is removed also and thrown away; all the rest is good, including the liver.
When the flesh and inside are properly mixed, season with salt, pepper, vinegar, oil, mustard, and chopped parsley. ”

“ So the oyster keeps his improved insides, shingles himself with scales made of the lobster's shell, changes the claw legs into fins, sets his tail on edge for a rudder, makes an inside backbone of his limy, outside house, but jointed like the crawfish's shell, and ringed like the muscles of the earthworm. ”

“ There is the crooked-back lobster, like a bowed old man, with all around the camellia branches, whose young leaves bud before the old leaves fall. There are pretty fern leaves shooting forth in pairs, and deep down between them the little baby fern-leaf. There is the bitter yellow orange, whose name, you know, means 'many parents and children.' The name of the black piece of charcoal is a pun on our homestead. ”

“ It was impossible the lobster could have eaten it all in the interim, and the handle of a net revealed the fact that, upon the approach of the two smaller lobsters, the larger one had buried the flounder beneath a heap of shingle, on which he now mounted guard. Five times within two hours was the fish unearthed, and as often did the lobster shovel the gravel over it with his huge claws, each time ascending the pile and turning his bold defensive front to his companions. ”

“ And when lobsters have been out of water for some time they get slow and sluggish, and seem hardly able to lift their claws which, often, are half as large as themselves. Of course, when a lobster does pinch, he pinches much harder than a crab. And old, big lobsters have teeth on their claws so they can crush even a clam or an oyster shell, I should imagine. ”

“ Lobsters are generally boiled, causing the shell to turn red.
A lobster consists of body, tail, two large claws, and four pairs of small claws. On lower side of body, in front of large claws, are various small organs which surround the mouth, and a long and short pair of feelers. Under the tail are found several pairs of appendages. In the female lobster, also called hen lobster, is found, during the breeding season, the spawn, known as coral. Sex is determined by the pair of appendages in the tail which lie nearest the body; in the female they are soft and pliable, in the male hard and stiff. ”

“ In like manner, when buying a boiled lobster put your finger and thumb on the body and pinch it; if it feels firm, and the tail goes back with a strong spring, the lobster—if heavy and of a good colour—is a desirable specimen.
À la St. Malo.—Take a lobster, cut in two lengthwise; take out all the flesh, and scallop it, making the claws and coral into lobster butter. Reduce some good gravy with a little double cream, and add two spoonfuls of tomato sauce: stir all well together, with a pinch of cayenne pepper. ”

“ Its large claws enable it to seize on its prey, to fix itself on the small prominences of rocks in the sea, to resist the motion of the waves, and to defend itself against its enemies. When the Lobster wants to spring off the rocks, it makes a fulcrum of its tail, which has the action of a powerful spring. Its gait is awkward, as in all the crustacea. Besides its claws, it has four small legs on each side, to assist it in its movements. Under the tail the hen Lobster preserves her eggs till they are hatched. They are extremely prolific. ”

“ In buying lobsters, choose those that are the heaviest and liveliest, or quickest in their motions when touched. They are then fresh. The hen has the broadest tail and the softest fins. [136]
LOBSTER PUDDING.— Take the empty back shell of one large boiled lobster, and all the best meat of two. Clean out the shell very nicely; washing it, and wiping it dry. Mince the meat, and mash the coral with it; adding half a dozen yolks of hard-boiled eggs crumbled among it, and season it well with powdered mace and nutmeg, and a little cayenne. ”

“ A lobster grows slowly, and when from 9 to 10 ins. long is probably from four to five years old. It becomes mature when about 6 ins. long—that is when about three years old.
The lobster is usually caught in creels or “pots” baited with portions of stale fish—generally flounder, skate, eels, etc. Lobster fisheries tend to deteriorate in value very rapidly. ”

“ Of these, some, such as men, horses, birds, fishes, snails, slugs, oysters, corals, and sponges, are not in the least like the lobster. But other animals, though they may differ a good deal from the lobster, are yet either very like it, or are like something that is like it. The cray fish, the rock lobster, and the prawn, and the shrimp, for example, however different, are yet so like lobsters, that a child would group them as of the lobster kind, in contradistinction to snails and slugs ”

“ Of course, as he grows, his shell gets too small, but, instead of putting on an addition as the mussel does, he leaves the old house altogether and builds a new one. In three days after the lobster moves out of the old house he has been found all settled in a bran-new one one-third larger. Two round balls are often found in the lobster's stomach, and people call them "crab's-eyes." These balls are made of lime, which it is said the lobster has been storing up for his new shell. Thus the lobster moves "out of the old house into the new" every year till he gets his growth. ”

“ Many people who cannot eat lobster when prepared with cream or milk, find it palatable when prepared with stock or water.
Lobster Cutlets.
A lobster weighing between two and a half and three pounds, three table-spoonfuls of butter, half a cupful of stock or cream, one heaping table-spoonful of flour, a speck of cayenne, salt, two eggs, about a pint of bread crumbs, twelve sprigs of parsley. Cut the meat of the lobster into fine dice, and season with salt and pepper. Put the butter on to heat. Add the flour, and when smooth, add the stock and one well-beaten egg. ”

“ The Common Lobster is found on the coasts of Western Europe, from Norway to the Mediterranean, living in shallow water, generally a little way below low-tide mark, wherever a rough, rocky bottom affords suitable lurking-places. On the Atlantic coast of North America, Lobsters are also found abundantly in similar situations. These American Lobsters, if examined carefully, will be found to differ from the European kind in certain small details of structure, of which the most conspicuous is the presence, on the under-side of the rostrum, of two spines or teeth. ”

“ It seems to be compelled to rise to the surface, for sunlight, or any bright illumination, always brings swarms of lobsterlings to the top of the jars in which they are hatched. In the sea this impulse towards the light stands them in good stead, for in the surface-waters they find themselves surrounded by the countless atoms of animal life, or potential life, the eggs and young of smaller sea beasts. The young lobster is furiously hungry and voracious, because, like the young crayfish, it has to change not only its shell but the lining of its stomach five times in eighteen days. ”

“ Lobster Rissoles.—Boil the lobster, take out the meat, mince it fine; pound the coral smooth, and grate the yelks of three hard-boiled eggs for one lobster. Season with cayenne pepper, a little nutmeg, and salt. Make a batter of milk, flour, and well-beaten eggs,—two table-spoonfuls of milk and one of flour to each egg. Beat this batter well, and mix the lobster with it gradually, till it is stiff enough to roll into balls the size of a large plum. Fry in fresh butter, or the best salad-oil, and serve up either warm or cold. ”

“ The lobster is a much more highly developed animal than the mollusk, having strong muscles inside its coat of mail, and the flesh has a protein content that compares very favorably with240 meat. When fresh, and not served with rich sauces or eaten at irregular hours, it is not especially indigestible, and may be the main dish at luncheon or supper, served simply with salt, pepper, and melted butter and not taken with meat foods. Its own delicious flavor needs no addition in the way of sauces and high seasoning. ”

“ Wash the lobster well before boiling, tie the claws securely, and throw the lobster, head first, into a saucepan of salted boiling water: this method instantly destroys life. Then boil the lobster gently from 20 to 40 minutes, according to its size, but avoid overcooking, which causes the flesh to become hard. When cool enough to handle, rub over with a little salad-oil to brighten the colour. When quite cold, break off the claws and tail, and divide the latter lengthwise by the line running from head to tail. ”

“ Deviled Lobster. Prepare the mixture as described in Art. 153 for lobster croquettes, and mix with it a teaspoonful of mustard. Clean the shells of your lobsters, fill them with the above mixture, which cover lightly with mustard, on top of which sprinkle some bread-crumbs and a very little melted butter. Put them in the oven, and, when colored a light brown, serve.
156. Lobster à la Bordelaise. Take the meat of three boiled lobsters, which cut in medium-sized pieces, and put them in a saucepan on the fire for about five minutes, with half a pint of sauce Bordelaise (Art. 101) , and serve. ”

“ The lobster is migratory only to the extent of moving to and from the shore, and is, therefore, practically a sedentary animal. Its movements are governed chiefly by the abundance of food and the temperature of the water. ”

“ Practise the same Method with either of the former; and to imitate the Tail of the Lobster, put in the Tails of Shrimps, Buntings, Prawns or Cray-fish; the last cut in pieces, and serve them either upon Sippets in a Plate, or in the large Shell of the Lobster.
N.B. This is a sort of Salmy, or Salmy-Gundy, as they call it in England; but is very much like the Thing we want: and I think, if the Shrimps, or others, were put into the first, it would make it better than putting in the Anchovy Liquor; but if they are to imitate a Crab, they must, (i.e. the Shrimps or Prawns) be chopt very small. ”

“ The lobster must be divided in two across the back, extract the meat carefully out of it, and cut it in a round or slanting direction to the thickness of a crown piece, break the claws and cut the same way, and place on salad as above, so as to form a thick crown near the border of eggs, then take the interior of the lobster, pound it and pass it through a fine sieve, add to your sauce. ”

“ Value of the Lobster as Food.—According to Professor Atwater of Middletown, Conn., the nutritive value of the flesh of the lobster, compared with beef as a standard and reckoned at 100, is 61 to 97. Forty per cent of the lobster is edible, the remainder is shell and waste. ”

“ The lobster, which in its natural state weighed thirty-three pounds and one ounce, measures forty-two inches from the tip of its tail to the end of its giant claws, the body alone measuring twenty-three and one-half inches. ”

“ The lobster lives among rocks and ledges; he uses his small legs but little for locomotion, but he springs surprisingly fast and far through the water by a single effort of his powerful muscular tail. As to his big fore-claws, those, we all know, are organs of prehension and weapons of offence, not pieces of locomotive mechanism. ”

“ Now when a lobster swims he just stretches his body straight out, and then doubles it suddenly up. As he does so the plates of the tail spread out, and form a kind of very broad and powerful oar, which strikes the water with such force as to drive the animal swiftly backwards. With a single stroke of its tail, indeed, a lobster can dart to a distance of forty or fifty feet, and that so quickly that even the swiftest fishes could scarcely overtake him. ”

“ But the smaller one is chiefly employed as a kind of anchor, by means of which the animal can cling to the weeds or rocks at the bottom of the sea.
Lobsters are caught in pots made of basketwork, just as crabs are. But they are not nearly so dainty as crabs, and do not mind whether the bait is fresh or putrid. They are always very much attracted, too, by any object that glitters, and many a lobster has been lured to its death merely by one or two oyster-shells hung up inside the pot in such a manner as to show the shining pearly interior. ”

“ Prepare a lobster à la New-burg, in accordance with one of the recipes given (No. 948 and 949) . Cut the tail into as many slices as there are fillets of sole, and keep them hot.
Cut the remainder of the lobster meat into dice, and add these to the sauce. Fold the fillets of sole, and poach them in fish fumet. Arrange them in an oval on a dish; lay a slice of lobster upon each fillet, and coat with the lobster-sauce combined with the dice, prepared as directed above. ”

“ Put the oysters, salt, pepper, and onion juice into the thickened cream, and serve.
If milk be used, add a tablespoonful of butter to the thickened milk.
Lobster. Lobster should be perfectly fresh. If it be cooked, the odor should be fresh and the shells look bright, and when the tail is drawn back it should spring into position again. If the lobster be bought alive, see that it moves lively. To boil it, plunge it into boiling water and cook gently from ten to twenty minutes. A very small lobster will cook in ten minutes and a large one in twenty. ”