Sally Lerman - Lobster Rolls of New England: Seeking Sweet Summer Delight

Published by American Palate

A Division of The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2014 by Sally Lerman

All rights reserved

First published 2014

e-book edition 2014

ISBN 978.1.62584.940.3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lerman, Sally.

Lobster rolls of New England : seeking sweet summer delight / Sally Lerman.

pages cm

Includes index.

print edition ISBN 978-1-62619-408-3 (paperback)

1. Cooking (Lobsters)--New England. 2. Restaurants--New England--Guidebooks. 3. Lobsters--New England. 4. Sandwiches--New England. 5. Seafood--New England. I. Title.

TX754.L63L47 2014

641.695--dc23

2014014197

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, Barbara Putman Clarke Bannowsky, the woman who introduced me to all the best things in life, including New England and lobster.

Contents

Introduction and Standards

As far as I am concerned, the lobster roll might be the finest food ever assembled. Lobster on its own is certainly one of the best foods, particularly when it is cooked fresh, directly from the sea. Its like eating summer vacationin New England, anyway. But lets be honest. A fresh cooked lobster, for the full experience, requires that you get your hands dirtyreally dirty. I just dont like getting my hands so dirty and possibly bloody (since Im actually not particularly adept at lobster extraction methods). Much like exercise, while I like the end result, I just cant be bothered with the difficult part. So for those of us lobster lovers who are prissy, lazy and/or impatient, there is lifes sweetest gift: the lobster roll. No work, no wait and no messits a lazy mans lobster dinner.

When I first tried a lobster roll, I assumed that every lobster roll was this exact dream come true. Sadly, that is not what all lobster roll purveyors in New England seem to think a lobster roll should be. That is why I made it my lifes mission to try every lobster roll in New Englandand maybe beyondand specifically document and report back to the world which lobster rolls live up to the true ideal of fresh picked lobster meat, right out of the shell, served on a bun for handheld convenience.

It was probably my destiny that the very first lobster roll I tried was at the Clam Shack in Kennebunkport, my very favorite lobster roll on the face of the earth (more on that in the Clam Shacks section). But my first experience made many lobster rolls disappointing and left me feeling like I had wasted money, time and stomach space. I want to save others from the same fate by pointing them in the direction of the greats. I hope this compilation serves that purpose. I was not able to include every lobster roll that I consider great, so if you see your favorite missing, dont think it was necessarily because I dont think its great. Although, in fairness, it might have been left out because it didnt meet my personal standards.

Fishermens Grill lobster rolls. Photo by Sally Lerman.

I had worked incognito sampling, documenting and photographing lobster rolls for years before I started my blog, lobstergal.com, in January 2012 to share my information with the world. I found it frustrating that so few lobster roll reviews listed useful, objective statements about the roll. What is ideal in a lobster roll is different for everyone, so I provide as much detail as I can so that it might help someone find that perfect lobster roll. I knew my nutrition science degree would come in handy one day; applying the scientific method to the assessment of lobster rolls is like a research project, but delicious. I anonymously visited and documented every location in this book at least once before I approached them for in-depth interviews. I didnt identify myself until after I had ordered, eaten, documented and, most importantly, enjoyed a lobster roll. I will give you my standards of a great lobster roll to be clear on my perspective. I hope that my information can help everyone find his or her favorite lobster roll. Every lobster roll in this guide is top quality and worthy of being considered anyones fave.

Footbridge lobster roll with Ginger, dearly departed canine assistant. Photo by Sally Lerman.

FRESH PICKED LOBSTER MEAT

Every venue in this guide has told me that it always and only uses fresh picked meat and that it never uses frozen meatever. I feel this is the one thing that all lobster roll lovers should agree on as an essential component of a great lobster roll. Sure, you might think this goes without saying, just as I did when I first started. But then I found out that lots of places (more than you would ever guess), even many that steam lobsters on site for dinners, actually use previously frozen lobster meat in their lobster rolls. I have actually tasted some rather decent previously frozen meat, but if you are on the New England seaside, in sight of lobster boats in the summer, nothing but fresh is acceptable to me. It should be cooked in-house for the venue to be able to take full credit for the greatness of its lobster roll. However, I understand there are limitations, and as the lobster roll king, Steve Kingston of Clam Shack, says, If you use only fresh picked meat, you can always hold your head high.

Finding out this sort of intel is no easy feat. Understandably, most places dont want to admit to and certainly dont want to advertise that they are using previously frozen meat. I toyed for years with the best way to find this out. I used to ask, Is the meat in the lobster roll fresh picked? But somehow what they heard was, Is the meat in the lobster roll rotten? So I have settled on, Do you use previously frozen meat at all in your lobster roll? Im usually asking a gal at the counter who has no idea, but that question might flag her to ask someone in the kitchen or a manager.

Fresh picked meat requires a great deal of ongoing labor compared to packaged, previously frozen meat, which runs about half the price. However, I have noticed consistently that the price for previously frozen rolls is rarely less than that of the fresh rolls. To me, this feels somewhat misleading, as does using a mix of fresh and frozen meat. I understand that some places might use some occasional frozen meat to minimally round out their supply. But since I will never know the specific proportions, saying they use a mix of fresh and frozen could also mean that they use an extremely minimal amount of fresh meat simply to say so.