Sea Chicken
Tonight, Mario and I experienced an almost daily ritual: we walked in to the grocery store, turned to each other and said simultaneously, "What do you want for dinner? I don't know, what do you want?"
As we were walking past the fish counter -- me, pushing the empty cart; him, hobbling along on his crutches-- I spied the live loster tank and said, "Look, sea chickens!"
We always walk past the lobster to more "everyday" items, but for some reason we decided to have lobster tonight.
A bit of background about my part of Canada. Lobster fishing has always been a large part of our ecomony and way of life, but has not always been viewed as a luxury item. Fifty years ago, it was considered shameful to bring a lobster sandwich to school for lunch, because it implied your parents couldn't afford to buy bologna. And, in poor market years, farmers would grind up the crustaceans and use them as cheap garden fertilizer.
And even though I live in a land where Lobster is King, I paid $11 a pound for it tonight. Who's fertilizing their garden now?
Our dinner tonight was VERY much a treat. We usually have lobster four or five times a year, always in the summer, always while we are camping. (Eating lobster is a very messy business, why would we do that at home??) To sit down to a feast in the middle of winter was so refreshing... because I associate it so closely with summer, the act of breaking open the claws gave me spring fever like you would not believe.
Another lobster fact: for the most part, Maritimers don't order it in restaurants, we leave that to the tourists. The reasons are simple: the mess, and how undignified you appear while eating it. A true Maritimer will spread newspapers all over the kitchen table, grab a plastic bowl for the shells, and have at 'er. It ain't pretty. We aren't afraid to use our hands (lobster crackers are for sissies) and we usually walk away from the table with a few cuts from the sharp shells. At this moment, I have several small puncture wounds and one surprising gash on the inside of my ring finger from opening the thing by hand. All part of the experience.
Your luxury item is my standard camping fare. How great is that? (well, for ME, anyway!)
As we were walking past the fish counter -- me, pushing the empty cart; him, hobbling along on his crutches-- I spied the live loster tank and said, "Look, sea chickens!"
We always walk past the lobster to more "everyday" items, but for some reason we decided to have lobster tonight.
A bit of background about my part of Canada. Lobster fishing has always been a large part of our ecomony and way of life, but has not always been viewed as a luxury item. Fifty years ago, it was considered shameful to bring a lobster sandwich to school for lunch, because it implied your parents couldn't afford to buy bologna. And, in poor market years, farmers would grind up the crustaceans and use them as cheap garden fertilizer.
And even though I live in a land where Lobster is King, I paid $11 a pound for it tonight. Who's fertilizing their garden now?
Our dinner tonight was VERY much a treat. We usually have lobster four or five times a year, always in the summer, always while we are camping. (Eating lobster is a very messy business, why would we do that at home??) To sit down to a feast in the middle of winter was so refreshing... because I associate it so closely with summer, the act of breaking open the claws gave me spring fever like you would not believe.
Another lobster fact: for the most part, Maritimers don't order it in restaurants, we leave that to the tourists. The reasons are simple: the mess, and how undignified you appear while eating it. A true Maritimer will spread newspapers all over the kitchen table, grab a plastic bowl for the shells, and have at 'er. It ain't pretty. We aren't afraid to use our hands (lobster crackers are for sissies) and we usually walk away from the table with a few cuts from the sharp shells. At this moment, I have several small puncture wounds and one surprising gash on the inside of my ring finger from opening the thing by hand. All part of the experience.
Your luxury item is my standard camping fare. How great is that? (well, for ME, anyway!)
posted by Jenn at
12:43 a.m.
2 Comments:
So if Lobster is Sea Chick would mock crab be considered Tofurkey?
Mare
i love this ~ such maritime flavour for those of us who remain landlocked.
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