Lobster Cuisine

A webpage advertising Florida Lobster.

Whole tails with the shell split and then broiled. The meat expands and bursts through the top.

Spiny lobster, boiled, broken into pieces and served in soft tacos.

Half of a lobster tail as part of a salad, including avocado, squash, and spinach.

Also, spiny lobster can be grilled whole, with little preparation.

HOW MUCH TO BUY

· Spiny Lobster in shell: 1 pound per serving.

· One pound of raw lobster will yield approximately 1/3 pound of cooked lobster meat.

BUYING, STORAGE AND HANDLING

Live: 
· Remember to purchase seafood last and keep it cold during the trip home.

· Spiny Lobsters should have some leg movement when handled.

· A lobster should curl its tail when picked up.

· Refrigerate at a constant 41 degrees F in a breathable container (a bag or cardboard box).

· Do not store directly on ice.

Not live:
· Remember to purchase seafood last and keep it cold during the trip home.

· Spiny Lobster should have a mild aroma (similar to the ocean), tightly
adhering shells and firm flesh.

· Store them in the coldest part of your refrigerator at 32 degrees F and use within two days, or freeze at 0 degrees F for up to six months

PREPARATION

· Keep raw and cooked seafood separate to prevent bacterial cross-contamination.

· After handling raw seafood thoroughly wash knives, cutting surfaces, sponges and your hands with hot soapy water.

· Always marinate seafood in the refrigerator.

· Discard marinade; it contains raw juices which may harbor bacteria.

· When marinade is needed for basting reserve a portion before adding raw seafood.

COOKING

· Whole lobsters: place head first in to boiling salt water. Return water to boiling and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes.

· Lobster tails: same as whole except reduce cooking time to 5 to 10 minutes, depending on size.

· The shell of a spiny lobster turns a bright red-orange when cooked.

· To heat cold cooked lobster: place whole lobster or tails on a rack over a small amount of boiling water in a covered saucepan or steamer. (Do not immerse rack in water.) Steam just long enough to heat thoroughly.

NUTRITION

Nutritional values for approximately 4 ounces (113.4 grams) of raw, edible portions.

--- excerpted from http://www.foodreference.com/html/art-spiny-lobster-7806.html

Spiny Lobsters -- A Tropical Delight:

Let's get this over with at the start: Spiny lobsters are not the same thing as a New England or European homard lobster. Biologically, they are only distant cousins, and in the kitchen, spiny lobsters are a bit tougher and are not as rich-tasting as a Maine lobster.

But that doesn't mean spiny lobsters are not delicious delicacies all their own. They are a rare treat in California, gathered in traps or by hand by divers and sold live in tanks. This makes the U.S. spiny lobster fishery a "best choice" if you are eager to eat only sustainable seafood.

The same can be said for lobsters taken in Baja, Mexico and Australia.

Sadly, spiny lobster stocks in the Caribbean are being over-fished, so avoid them if you can.

From an eating standpoint, most of the meat in a spiny lobster is in its tail. Unlike New England lobsters, Spiny's lack claws, which is too bad because I like the claw meat in a Maine lobster best of all.

Spiny lobsters go a long way toward making up for this by housing an enormous amount of meat in their bodies -- there's an especially yummy chunk at the base of each antenna. Spiny lobsters, pound for pound, have more meat in their bodies than New England lobsters do. That means you will do well to buy whole, live spiny lobsters if you can find them.

Spiny lobster tails are traditionally grilled, basted with butter. They are also excellent steamed and roasted. Be sure to get the thin little strips of meat from the tail flippers!

If you get the whole lobster, make lobster stock out of the body and legs -- once you've picked the body meat out.

When doing that, know that pretty much everything inside the body is edible except for the lungs, which are grayish and feathery and attached to the flanks of the critter, the sand sac between the eyes, and anything tube-like or crunchy. You can eat the tomalley, but if you do don't make a habit of it -- it's like a liver, and is where the lobster stores toxins. The coral or roe is excellent.

What do you do with the body meat? Lobster Thermidor springs to mind, as does lobster salad or lobster sauce for pasta. The possibilities are endless.

When buying a spiny lobster, look for a lively one. Never buy a dead lobster that has not been frozen! Enzymes in the lobster rot the meat very quickly. When buying frozen tails, look for ones that have been vacuum-sealed: They will last up to a year that way. - Hank Shaw
--- excerpted from http://fishcooking.about.com/od/shrimpcrablobster/p/spiny_lobster.htm