Van Emden Eva - How to make love to a lobster: an eclectic guide to the buying, cooking, eating and folklore of shellfish

HOW TO
MAKE LOVE
TO A
LOBSTER

MARJORIE HARRIS AND PETER TAYLOR

HOW TO
MAKE LOVE
TO A
LOBSTER

AN ECLECTIC GUIDE TO
THE BUYING , COOKING ,
EATING AND FOLKLORE
OF SHELLFISH

Copyright 1988 by Marjorie Harris and Peter Taylor

2013 edition published by Whitecap Books

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For more information contact Whitecap Books, at Suite 210, 314 West Cordova Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6B 1E8.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of the authors knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the authors or Whitecap Books Ltd. The authors and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information. Opinions expressed in this book do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Whitecap Books. Whitecap Books does not review or endorse the contents of the websites listed in this book. Whitecap Books assumes no liability for any content or opinion expressed on these websites, nor does it warrant that the contents and links are error or virus free.

Whitecap Books is known for its expertise in the cookbook market, and has produced some of the most innovative and familiar titles found in kitchens across North America. Visit our website at www.whitecap.ca .

Edited by Theresa Best and Eva van Emden

Design and illustrations by Setareh Ashrafologhalai

eBook development: WildElement.ca

Printed in Canada

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Harris, Marjorie

How to make love to a lobster : an eclectic guide to the buying, cooking, eating and folklore of shellfish / Marjorie Harris and Peter Taylor.

Originally published: Toronto : Macmillan of Canada, 1988.

ISBN 978-1-77050-183-6

1. Cooking (Shellfish). 2. Shellfish. 3. Cookbooks. I. Taylor,

Peter II. Title.

TX753.H37 2013 641.694 C2013-900262-6

The publisher acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) and the Province of British Columbia through the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

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CONTENTS

PREFACE AND
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T he idea for this book bubbled around our conversations for a long time as we reminisced, from time to time, about meals that were memorable because they became great sensual occasions. We wanted to read more about shellfish, but it was difficult to find everything we wanted to know in one place. We felt that writing this book would fill an aching gap, not only for us but for all those who enjoy shellfish as much as we do.

Devotees will tell you that eating these wonderful beasts is not only healthy but very sexy. They insist there has to be some truth to the myths that expound their aphrodisiac qualities and more than one reason for their being immortalized in stories, poems and songs.

Our primordial ancestors must have instinctively known that shellfish were not only good for the soul but also life sustaining. Having crawled from the ocean, one theory has it, our forebears remained seaside, feeding their brains on a diet of marine creatures for the roughly ten thousand years that it took them to learn to stand erect and head downtown. As modern science uncovered more and more secrets about shellfish, we learned to appreciate their nutritional value. We got to like mussels and scallops because they were low in cholesterol and easily absorbed by the body. We found out why oysters and shrimp did wonders for our sex lives. We also found out why squid and octopus, although rich in protein, would not make us fat (and thats why, even though these two creatures arent technically shellfish, weve included them in this book).

Apart from these sensible qualities of shellfish is their ability to make us feel nostalgic. As we strolled through our separate pasts, we were suddenly reminded that the clams we dug on a Cape Cod beach and the freshly picked oysters we enjoyed on Malpeque Bay meant more to us than a simple stop for a roadside snack on a summer day.

In compiling the information for this book, we are greatly indebted to the many writers who went before us and to those whose material we quote in the book: James Beard, Hector Bolitho, Lewis Carroll, Rebecca Charles, Deborah DiClementi, Euell Gibbons, Anne Hardy, Arthur Hawkins, Jan Haworth, Robert Hendrickson, Sarah Hurlburt, Hsiang Ju Lin, Tsuifeng Lin, A. J. McClane, Jill Nhu Huong Miller, D. R. Percy, Waverly Root, John G. Saxe, A. R. Scammell, Eva Jean Schulz, George Sterling, Bonnie Stern, Herb Taylor, William W. Warner and C. M. Yonge.

Although we have done our best to contact those whose material is included in the book, we were unable to reach everyone and hope to rectify any credit omissions before the next edition is published.

We are grateful to the many friends and foodies who supplied the names of their favourite seafood restaurants. (They are mentioned by name at the beginning of Good Places to Eat Shellfish.) Special thanks go to the chefs who kindly permitted us to reprint their best shellfish recipes: John Canepa, Pia Carroll, Rebecca Charles, Patrick Desmoulins, Kee Lee, Chris McNulty and Michael Stadtlander.

In all aspects of the world of food, things change. Chefs move on and restaurants close; weve done our best to keep track of them in this, the third edition of How to Make Love to a Lobster . Weve updated the listings and although some chefs may have changed locations, their recipes remain in these pages.

Finally, we express our appreciation to Tony Asplerauthor of Tony Asplers International Guide to Wine , The Wine Lover Dines (with Master Chef Jacques Marie) and Vintage Canada who compiled for us an impressive list of wines to accompany each chapter.

N o other words have ever so poignantly expressed the intimacy this remarkable crustacean evokes, regardless of whether they were spoken by a passionate gourmand or by someone wiping melted butter off his or her lovers chin.

What other food demands so many skills? What other meal invites you to come so close to your plate? No other dish can make the juices of romance flow quite as swiftly. You can eat it boiled, steamed, poached or broiledon the beach at sunset or in the privacy of your hot tub; sitting in your favourite restaurant, you can even have it served flambed with Pernod!

Looking at a lobsters physical attributes, youd never guess why it is consumed with such gusto. Resembling a science fiction writers dream come true, this armoured, ten-legged denizen of the deep is, nonetheless, prized by gourmets the world over.