MAINE ... LOBSTER HEAVEN

When in Maine, lobsters are the only game, at least it is for me. My baptism to lobster anything dates back to the Fall of 1968 when, among many sub-cultural exposure I was taught to appreciate a lobster the way it should be. The Down East Maine way, or No Way type of brainwashing that is still prominent in my mind to-date.What is the point of eating anything else when you are in lobster country, where you have access to the best in show? I did exactly that at my recent sojourn which brought back fond memories.  

Without question the freshness of Maine lobsters is unmatched anywhere, with perhaps the exception of northeastern Canada in places like Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton Island where I visited as a low budget college student. Lobster dinners along these coastlines were C$1.99 believe it or not and if you are prepared to take a "Cull" that is, perfectly OK lobsters with only one claw it was C$1 .. which included a steamed lobster, a handful of clams, a large corn on the cob and of course, a tub of drawn or clarified butter for dipping. I was also taught to sprinkle a dash of salt in the butter to stimulate flavors. These dinners were served on a paper plate with a stash of napkins, and that was it, none of the fancy footwork we see today. It was religion then and it still is.

I have enough lobsters in my system now I will not touch lobster anything anywhere in Hong Kong, which is a complete waste of time. A so called 波龍 or Boston Lobster sells for HK$160-200 in the wet market .. robbery .. and if you order that in an eatery it will be in the HK$300-400 range. Most do not know how to cook it properly since they have no access to clean sea water and sea weed, not to mention those babies would have lost their will to live, along with their freshness and taste, after 24 hours on a plane. BTW I do not count lobsters from British Columbia or for that matter, crayfish from Australia as the same, they just aren't!

You want lobsters, go to Maine, it is worth the 24-hour flight time.