Fish is one of the only things you can eat during Lent if you're a Catholic because the "fast" requires abstaining from meat. If you're a Catholic locavore and ice fishing isn't on the menu but bending the rules is, then look to the sea for sustenance.
A lobster caught in Maine or off the coast of Martha's Vineyard is 100 miles away, give or take. New locavore rule: eat local wherever you go. The trip to Maine from Holyoke is around 200 miles but on Martha's Vineyard, the trip from the fishmonger's place to where the lobsters live is about half an hour by boat.
In winter, lobsters live in an igloo of their own design. As in the case of oysters, the amount of energy expended building up the tough shell makes for a very sweet meat. Last week I happened to run into a lobster in Vineyard Haven whom I interviewed before cooking, eating, and then eating again. The recipe that follows is for an "after-the-feast" velvety bisque that promises to get all of us through the month of March, whether we're locavores, Catholics, locavore Catholics or just plain old heathens.?
ValleyLocavore: Why is lobster meat so sweet this time of year?
Larry the Lobster: How did you get in here?
Press pass.
Aren't you cold?
Aren't you??
No, I'm not cold because of my big, hard, shiny shell. We're sweet in winter because the cold makes us that way. We generate our own heat, which makes the meat sweet—not that anybody gives a crap! Do you see any tourists around here besides yourself?
Well, I'm not really a tourist. You see….?
And what is with all these shovel-ready projects Obama is talking about? What about crustacean-ready projects? What about replenishing the waters with lobster? Aren't there enough buildings, and bridges and superhighways? Isn't that what got us into this mess in the first place?
What mess?
Rampant spending, the financial meltdown, the general lack of consumer confidence in spending. Everybody is cutting back.
Take the New England Flower Show. Biggest event of the year for flower people. Plants get to come out and show off months early and humans see spring real early. In 1997 it was huge. One grower had a Vegas theme and another, video images on a waterfall, but not this year. The Massachusetts Horticultural Society is cutting back.
Didn't the executive director get fired?
Found out that the dude spent some time in jail. It happens, but as a result, the flower show is now going to be in a couple of lobbies under the Big Dig. Big deal!
When is that thing, anyway?
It's called Blooms and it takes place March 13-15 on what they're calling the "Green Way."
Will you be there?
I'll pick it up on Twitter.
What is your position on the new?Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack?
He is a straw but his second in command will make things happen. She put the word organic on every shiny label in the healthy food section.
Where did you hear that?
Twitter.
Do you get it in your cage?
Do you see a cage?
No.
Well, then, I guess not. Actually I pick up Twitter out on Menemsha Bight.
Really!
Yeah. That is not for attribution, mind you.
Got it.
And what is with all this Lenten dinner stuff? I am hearing that there is a brisk fish business at the auction in Portland in March because the Catholics are eating only fish. Why pick on fish?
Because it was believed by the people who were in charge of the church stuff that it would be a sacrifice to go without certain things during the fasting period. Since fish come from water and meat does not, it stood to reason that it would be OK to eat something that comes from water because it was less of a sacrifice. You've heard of the sacrificial lamb… have you heard of the sacrificial lobster?
It's not right. First of all, I live a life in steerage so tourists can eat me.
I'm not a tourist.
And second of all, my species is over-fished. I might be the last one.
Now you're making me feel guilty.
If you want guilt-free fish, there is a nice farm-raised sustainable fish out your way in the western part of the state….
Not…
Yes.
Barramundi!
Try making bisque with those bones!
Lenten Lobster Bisque
1. Collect all the leftover shells after the lobster feast.
2. Remove the gill feathers, tamale (green stuff—digestive), coral (eggs) and lobster meat.
2. Reserve gill feathers, tamale, coral and meat. They will be added later to the bisque.
3. Remove any other leftover stuff such as eyes and lungs.
4. Coat shells in olive oil and place in roasting pan for around 30 minutes at around 340 degrees (be super careful not to burn!).
5. Make stock using leftover lobster water or clam juice, and add a mixture of chopped medium onion, 2 cloves finely diced garlic, a rib of diced celery and a finely diced medium carrot as well as several sprigs of thyme.
6. When the shells are nice and brittle, remove from pan and de-glaze for any leftover flavor.
7. Put the shells in a brown paper bag and break into tiny pieces with a hammer. This is best done outside or on the fire escape.
8. Place all the tiny shell pieces in a pan with a stick of butter.
9. Melt butter and shells and put mixture into a food processor.
10. Mix until shells are ground as fine as possible.
11. Drain lobster-infused butter using a cheese cloth and discarding the shell.
12. Thicken stock with a couple of handfuls of rice.
13. Add lobster-infused butter to stock and 1/2 cup of sherry (optional).
14. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
15. Taste and adjust as you see fit by adding coral and about 1/2 cup cream (optional).
16. Add leftover lobster meat.
17. Serve with lobster gill feathers as garnish.
18. Toast slices of baguette and slather with tamale that has been cooked with a bit of butter and a very small amount of onion.
