Lobster?

Canadian Maritimes and the U.S. state of Maine being the largest producers. They are caught using lobster traps. These devices made of shrimp mesh and wire (wooden traps, now obsolete, were traditionally used) are baited and lowered to the sea floor. They allow a lobster to enter, but make it impossible for the larger specimens to turn around and exit. This allows the creatures to be captured alive. The traps have a buoy, sometimes referred to as a "pot", floating on the surface and lobster fishermen check their traps daily. Studies have shown that the inefficient trap system—which permits small, juvenile lobsters to easily escape—has inadvertently prevented the lobster population from being overfished.

As food

Prior to the 20th century, lobster wasn't popular as food. In the Maritimes, eating lobster was considered a mark of poverty. In some parts of the Maritime provinces of Canada, lobster was used as a fertilizer for farmers' fields. Outside of the rural outports lobster was sold canned, losing much of its flavour which can be disregarded if the lobster is dipped in butter.

The reputation of lobster changed with the development of the modern transportation industry that allowed live lobsters to be shipped from the outports to large urban centres. Fresh lobster quickly became a luxury food and a tourist attraction for the Maritimes and Maine and an export to Europe and Japan where it is especially expensive.

Lobster is most commonly cooked by placing a live whole lobster in a pot of boiling water. Some consider this method cruel, and more humane ways of killing them include inserting a knife into the back of their head and slicing downward, and freezing them for 15 minutes before boiling 1. The apparent cruelty of boiling lobsters alive was challenged in a Norwegian study released in February of 2005, which determined that lobsters cannot feel pain due to their diminished central nervous system capacity. 2

Lobster is best eaten fresh, and they are normally purchased live. Restaurants that serve lobster keep a tank of the live creatures, often allowing patrons to pick their own. The shell of the lobster makes eating them a slow process, requiring a number of implements but once you dip it in some delicous butter, oh boy was all that peeling worht it! The majority of the meat is in the tail and the two front claws, but smaller quantities can be found in the legs and torso. Lobsters are often eaten plain, or with butter, lemon juice or white vinegar. Lobster can also be cut up and used in a wide array of dishes. One popular way of serving lobster was to combine it with steak in what became known by the 1960s as surf and turf.

In Canada, Shediac, New Brunswick promotes itself as the "Lobster Capital of the World".

"Lobster Newberg. Also "lobster a la Newburg"w/.The dish was made famous at Delmonico's Restaurant in New York in 1876 when the recipe was brought to chef Charles Ranhofer by a West Indies sea captain named Ben Wenberg. It was an immediate hit, especially for after-theater suppers, and owner Charles Delmonico honored the captain by naming the dish "lobster a la Wenberg." But later Wenberg and Delmonico had a falling-out, and the restauranteur took the dish off the menu, restoring it only by popular demand by renaming it "lobster a la Newberg," reversing the first three letters of the captain's name. Chef Ranhofer also called it "lobster a la Delmonico," but the appelation "Newberg" (by 1897 it was better known under the spelling "Newburg") stuck, and the dish became a standard in hotel dining rooms in the United States. It is still quite popular and is found in French cookbooks, where it is sometimes referred to as "Homard saute a la creme."w/.The first printed recipe appeared in 1895.”—Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani. New York: Lebhar-Friedman, 1999. Pages 187–8.

In the Indian subcontinent, especially in West Bengal and Bangladesh, a delicacy of lobsters is called "Golda Chingrir Malai Curry" and is cooked with coconut milk and spices.

Types of lobster

Lobster species include:

• Atlantic deep-sea lobster (Acanthacaris caeca)
• Prickly deep-sea lobster (Acanthacaris tenuimana)
• Red lobster (Eunephrops bairdii)
• Sculptured lobster (Eunephrops cadenasi)
• Banded lobster (Eunephrops manningi)
• American lobster (Homarus americanus)
• Cape lobster (Homarus capensis)
• European lobster (Homarus gammarus)
• Andaman lobster (Metanephrops andamanicus)
• Arafura lobster (Metanephrops arafurensis)
• Armored lobster (Metanephrops armatus)
• Northwest lobster (Metanephrops australensis)
• Caribbean lobsterette (Metanephrops binghami)
• New Zealand lobster (Metanephrops challengeri)
• Formosa lobster (Metanephrops formosanus)
• Japanese lobster (Metanephrops japonicus)
• African lobster (Metanephrops mozambicus)
• Neptune lobster (Metanephrops neptunus)
• Urugavian lobster (Metanephrops rubellus)
• Sculpted lobster (Metanephrops sagamiensis)
• Siboga lobster (Metanephrops sibogae)
• China lobster (Metanephrops sinensis)
• Red-banded lobster (Metanephrops thomsoni)
• Velvet lobster (Metanephrops velutinus)
• Bight lobster (Metanephrops boschmai)
• Mitten lobsterette (Nephropides caribaeus)
• Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus)
• Spinetail lobsterette (Nephropsis acanthura)
• Florida lobsterette (Nephropsis aculeata)
• Prickly lobsterette (Nephropsis agassizii)
• Scarlet lobsterette (Nephropsis atlantica)
• Ridge-back lobsterette (Nephropsis carpenteri)
• Gladiator lobsterette (Nephropsis ensirostris)
• Saya de Malha lobsterette (Nephropsis malhaensis)
• Ruby lobsterette (Nephropsis neglecta)
• Pacific lobsterette (Nephropsis occidentalis)
• Rosy (or Two-toned) lobsterette (Nephropsis rosea)
• Indian Ocean lobsterette (Nephropsis stewarti)
• Red and White lobsterette (Nephropsis suhmi)
• Grooved lobsterette (Nephropsis sulcata)
• Bellator lobster (Thymopides grobovi)
• Patagonian lobsterette (Thymops birsteini)
• Nilenta lobsterette (Thymopsis nilenta)

See also

• Spiny lobster
• Tomalley (the soft green liver of the lobster)
• Bubba the lobster

External links

• Lobster FAQ
• Photos and Video of Cape Cod Lobstering by Mooncusser Films
• Lobster Liberation

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