Lobsters are menu staples in the smallest family style restaurants and in the most elegant establishments. Road-side stands sell lobster rolls, or lobster salad sandwiches. Lobster bakes, seafood and sweet corn cooked over hot coals, are as routine in Portland as barbecued ribs are in Kansas City. And, if you'd like, many fish mongers will ship them to your home.
Lobster has a very distinctive flavor that is both mild and slightly sweet. It's great for the health conscious because it's low in fats, calories and cholesterol. It compares very nicely to skinless chicken and turkey on these counts. Yes you can use lots of butter or make cream-based sauces, but a lemon wedge lightly drizzled over the cooked meat is the best way to enjoy lobster's unique flavor.
Don't be intimidated at the thought of cooking lobster at home. It's really very easy.
There's one simple rule to making lobster. Take it home alive and cook it immediately. Lobster tanks are common sights in better markets all over the U.S. and Canada. When I see lobsters that are already cooked in a display case, I always wonder if they died in the tank. If you cook it, you know that it's fresh.
Fish mongers and chefs give a slight nod to buying females. They're a little sweeter. Telling them apart is simple. Turn the lobster on it's back and look at the first pair of swimmerets, or appendages, just where the body and tail meet. They are hard and bone-like in a male and soft and feather-like in a female.
Generally, lobsters in your market will be a greenish-brown with an orange underside. They can be other colors: blue, red, white and yellow-spotted, but these lobsters are very rare and normally do not make their way out of New England. Whatever their color when living, they all turn red when cooked. If you have to refrigerate a lobster, do so inside a perforated brown paper bag.
Plan on serving one lobster per person based on an average size between 1 1/4 lbs. to 2 1/2 lbs. each. If you buy them any larger, the portion is just too large.
