Lobster Rolls for Lunch
OK, let’s get back to basics. The first piece I ever put up on the web (back in ’00) was devoted to lobster rolls and those pages are still the most-popular section of this site by far. It’s not something I blog about much, however, but lobster rolls formed the highlight of this weekend, sooooo...
Back in May, I wrote about hearing Cal Hancock of Hancock Gourmet Lobster inteviewed by Jim Coleman on A Chef’s Table. Her company makes a variety of lobster products, including a lobster roll, which you can order online. This we did at our earliest opportunity, and four of us gathered on Saturday afternoon to partake. I’ll let the pictures tell the story.
The lobster roll kit is shipped overnight in an iced styrofoam cooler and includes six rolls and one pound of lobster salad. Price is $58 plus $21.50 shipping, which is exactly what you would pay for six rolls in a restaurant in Maine. Except you don’t have to go to Maine. A steal, I’m tellin’ ya.
So I said to these rolls, “You’re not from around here are you?” I’ve occasionally seen top-split rolls in supermarkets in Philadelphia, but none as nice as these. Note the large uncrusted area on the end just ready for buttering.
The heart of a lobster roll is the salad. The ingredients list is simple: “lobster meat, mayonnaise, spices.” It looks like it wasn’t dressed with anything at all, which is exactly how I like it. In addition, the lobster itself was sweet and tender.
The top-split rolls grilled to an even, golden brown. The finished product was about as good as any I’ve ever eaten.
Bonus! For dessert, Scott brought a cherry pie. Homemade crust, of course, and some of the cherries came from their two-year old sour cherry tree.
I’m sure you’re sick of hearing about lobster rolls, but for those still reading, there’s more! I keep up with lobster roll doings around the web with a Google Alert, which, um, alerted me to two interesting articles about lobster rolls in New York last week. One was an article in the Village Voice surveying a handful of Manhattan lobster rolls. Another was from the food blog “The Food Section” highlighting a visit to New York by French food blogger Clotilde Dusoulier who enjoyed her first lobster roll at Pearl Oyster Bar. Even though New York is only two hours away, I’ve never had a lobster roll there. Really got to do something about that....