World's Best Lobster Roll Is Found in ... Utah????

[Lauren]

Shall we have a chowder or fried clam discussion?

Steamers

 

[Muleski]

I have a few friends who farm oysters and mussels. Big, big business. When the first one started 30+ years ago, people thought they were just nuts. one of my friends's fathers wanted to have him locked up. Technology at work. They are all over the place these days.

But, @bbinder's right. Not a plan for lobster. Though there are all sorts of lobster related businesses. I met a guy who's business was building custom lobster tanks for retail stores, restaurants, etc. Builds and ships world wide. Also had a neighbor who basically sold lobster bakes delivered to you door. All of the equipment to cook them, and fresh lobster, clams, corn. Shipped all over the country. Kind of like Omaha Steaks.

And who knew about this sushi thing? When the market for tuna exploded, you had suddenly a good tuna captain earning $20K or more on a single day trip. And the processors who move it were making big money. It's a fickle thing. Feast to famine. The market can swing a lot. As can the strength of the fishery. Some years they just are not out there. A good talented fisherman, who does this for serious fun, can pay for the cost of owning and running a very nice boat with four decent tuna a summer. A 700 lb Tuna produces a lot of those pan seared filets!

At times the price of lobster is so low in Maine that it's not even worth baiting traps and buying diesel. So they wait for the inventory to go down and for prices to increase. One the years, we've seen lobster and chicken at about the same price. Many years ago.

Another funny thing is that don't know many lobstermen who actually enjoy eating the stuff. I know some who never eat it. A rib eye on the grill. That will work for them!

 

[Muleski]

Steamers

For those not in the know, those are steamed clams. My wife can eat more steamers at one setting than anybody I've ever met. And she is tiny.
A life long addiction!

OK...need to think about the weekend's food!

 

[Philpug]

For those not in the know, those are steamed clams. My wife can eat more steamers at one setting than anybody I've ever met. And she is tiny.
A life long addiction!

OK...need to think about the weekend's food!

Challenge ACCEPTED!

Lets call all of this what it is...just a reason to be able to eat more drawn butter.

 

[crgildart]

A great idea in theory, but very resource expensive. Not only does it take 7 years for a lobster to grow to 'market size', but if you keep a bunch of lobsters in one crowded tank, they will eat each other.

Cheaper to do it in Malaysia!


Darden Aquafarm, World’s First Commercial Lobster Farm, To Grow Billions Worth Of Shellfish



Or anywhere?
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-Lobster-Farms

 

[Philpug]

If anyone wants to send me some lobsters...and clams....amd scallops...and...and...I would be glad to pay the overnight shipping.

 

[KingGrump]

Cheaper to do it in Malaysia!


Darden Aquafarm, World’s First Commercial Lobster Farm, To Grow Billions Worth Of Shellfish



Or anywhere?
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-Lobster-Farms

Spiny lobster doesn't come anywhere near Maine lobster in term of taste and/or texture.
As @Dadskier said before, good lobsters need cold water. Even with Maine type lobster, there is a big difference between cold and warm water lobsters.
Then there is the huge difference between fresh and frozen.

Mamie was in the whole sale seafood business for over 15 years way back when. Before seafood was hot and pricey. She used to bring stuff home for next to nothing.
Nowdays, seafood prices are much higher due to demand.

This reminds me about one of the things I missed about Maine and the good old days. Fried clam (steamers) with belly. Tough to find in the NY area. The hard shell clams they use around here, just not the same.

 

[Muleski]

Interesting info on the lobster farm thinking. We shall see.

I've spend quite a lot of time in the Caribbean, and the Bahamas. Have eaten quite a bit of lobster there. Not the same. Lots of theories as to why the species is so different. Seems to be tough, and have less flavor. Guys who I know who fish {Lobster} in Maine during the three seasons, and spend the winter down south, think it's a combination of things. The bottom structure, and therefore what they scrounge to eat, the water temperature, the salinity of the water, the depth of the water. Too much sand......all sorts of wild ass theories. But yeah, they are not the same creatures...at all.

My wife is remarkably light on the butter with her pile of steamers. She and PP would be good steamer partners.

@Philpug, We'll have to work on that seafood thing........

I had three business partners who were based in Seattle when I lived in Maine. They all grew up in Maine, and loved the "Amato's Real Italian". We would have the local fish market overnight ship all of the fixings to make a couple dozen of them, purchased at Amato's Market, about once a month. Lobster as well. The Italian sandwich guys had no idea that they had a national following at that time. And of course the people who worked for them had no idea why these guys had to have the sandwiches. And they'd all argue about the merits of each ingredient.

Of course they would ship me root beer ice cream from the Husky Deli.

Fried clams.....the Clam Box in Ipswich Mass. Legendary. A lot of great clam places. That one had been in operation forever.

 

[crgildart]

Spiny lobster doesn't come anywhere near Maine lobster in term of taste and/or texture.
As @Dadskier said before, good lobsters need cold water. Even with Maine type lobster, there is a big difference between cold and warm water lobsters.
Then there is the huge difference between fresh and frozen.

Mamie was in the whole sale seafood business for over 15 years way back when. Before seafood was hot and pricey. She used to bring stuff home for next to nothing.
Nowdays, seafood prices are much higher due to demand.

This reminds me about one of the things I missed about Maine and the good old days. Fried clam (steamers) with belly. Tough to find in the NY area. The hard shell clams they use around here, just not the same.

With enough investment capital, the water could be cold and you could raise from Maine larva. However, Red Lobster would have to double the price and shipped from Malayisa live to the Red Lobster lobby tanks?? Now, raising your own? If you're rich, possible but cheaper to just fly to or ship from Maine!

That said, I've got to wonder if some of those tasty fresh lobsters caught in the wild actually hatched and lived in garbage at the bottom of the sea floor.. Old car battery cases would make great nesting. Hope it never really gets that bad but I've pulled up some nasty stuff fishing off of Long Island back in the day.

 

[mdf]

"In 1987 KCL relocated to Kona to research the feasibility of aquaculturing Maine lobsters. KCL successfully closed the life cycle in captivity. However, the accelerated grow out period from egg to market size would not yield the cost efficiencies necessary to compete with the wild fishery. Picture lobster feedlots . . . not so fast my friend."

from http://www.konacoldlobsters.com/about_us.html

They pivoted to become a live seafood distributor. Walk-in price is $35 for a 2 pound lobster.

 

[KingGrump]

Walk-in price is $35 for a 2 pound lobster.

Wow, talking about being cheap and spoiled. Around here, I don't buy lobsters when they go over $6.99/lb.

 

[at_nyc]

Wow, talking about being cheap and spoiled. Around here, I don't buy lobsters when they go over $6.99/lb.

+1

Oh wait, I'm in NYC too. No wonder...

 

[at_nyc]

I'm sure it's tasty, but unless you can smell the salt water and see lobster boats floating in the harbor, I'm just not that interested in a lobster roll.

I'm not that interested in lobster roll. Period.

I really only go out of my way for lobster when it's whole, or full tail served on a plate, boiled, broiled, or grilled. Rolls, in pasta, cut up and mixed in anything I can't really tell the lobster from the other scallops, shrimp, etc.. So, I'd not pay extra for lobster unless it comes looking like a lobster to me. Also, no mayo, no fettuccine or marinara sauce.. only hot butter. Add a small NY strip or ribeye and GOOD fries and that's one of my top 5 favorite meals.

I don't even bother with butter most of the time.

 

[graham418]

MMmmmmm......Lobster Roll... All this talk is making me hungry.. My wife is in PEI right now. I could ask her to bring home a feed !!)

(this is a pic from Daves Lobster in Charlottetown, PEI)

 

[KingGrump]

+1

Oh wait, I'm in NYC too. No wonder...

You're in NYC too. I would have never guessed if you didn't mention it.

 

[Crank]

Clams! We were out on Long Island, NY over 4th of July weekend and went clamming twice. Both times came home with at least 4 dozen very sweet clams out of Shinnecock bay. Made great steamers. Our friends used the big ones to make chowder.

Best Lobster Roll I ever ate was at the Wequasset Inn on Chatham MA (Cape Cod). It was more of a lobster salad in a bread bowl than a traditional hot dog roll. But it was really, really great!

I live on the Long Island Sound and when I was younger there were lobster traps everywhere. I knew several families who had licenses to trap and we used to eat a lot of lobster at summer parties. We were sailors and ou had to be careful not to catch your rudder on a trap line. You especially didi not want to do that in the spring when the water was still frigid because the only way to get off one was to get in the water.

Now, Sadly, there are virtually no lobster traps and most of the lobsters have died off around here.

 

[skibob]

Morgan's in Truckee has decent lobster rolls.

And their Reno location is much nicer with MUCH more seating.

 

[skibob]

For a long time, the best fish restaurant I had eaten in was Jay's in Dayton Ohio. Since this was odd, living near Boston and all, I came up with a theory. Here in New England, the fish comes off the boat, sits in the sun on the dock awhile, goes to the market when the buyer gets around to showing up, etc, etc etc. All very routine. Fresh fish in the middle of the country is a mission calling for extreme care at every step. The same probably applies to Lobster in Utah.

Close friend of my parents is VP of one of the largest produce distributors in the midwest. He always shows up at my parents' house with the most beautiful, tastiest strawberries from Plant City, FL. I lived in Tampa for awhile [shudders involuntarily] which is right next door. I ask him, how do you get these strawberries? I go to the farm in Plant City I can't buy strawberries like this. He laughs and says, "of course not, I buy them all!"

 

[at_nyc]

All these talk about lobster roll must have gotten to me...

I was visiting the seafood truck as part of my Saturday routine. Saw the lobster salad and decided to get half pound of that with a roll, for $10.

Hit the right spot for after a 30 hilly mile bike!

 

[crgildart]

Me too. Decided to try one of those fully cooked and frozen Cape Cod grocery store lobsters with the ribeyes I grilled last night. I gave the kids the claws. They cracked right open and the meat popped out perfectly. It wasn't as good as Hiernymous at the coast but better than I expected. FWIW they cost $11.00 a piece..