A dozen or so white perch and the 4 lobsters in this photograph provided an extraordinary feast one summer at Jo Mary Lake Campground in Central Maine. The fish look like minnows until you learn the smallest lobster in the picture is approximately 10 inches (25.4cm) long. The sneaker shown belongs to an adult helping put the size of the monster lobsters in perspective.
The two largest of the Maine lobsters were steamed one at a time out of necessity because each filled the kettle. The old wives tale about the big ones being tough may be a lie because these were tender and delicious, and fed about 8 people. Years ago I heard a story about some restaurant Downeast being famous for weak lobster chowder. I don’t recall the source which may have been Bert and I, but in essence the complaint was as follows:
The weak lobster chowder began with a pot of milk set to simmer, a few chunks of potato were added, and then salt and pepper. Finally for flavor, a wooden lobster that once hung at the entrance of the restaurant was held up to the light so the shadow would fall on the milk.
My readers are welcome to identify corrections or the source, and if they’re still kicking I’ll link to their book, CD, or wooden lobster on this blog. In general I limit my content to true stories, but the lobster theme brought back memories of that wooden one, so I had to mention that choice piece of Maine humor.
TAGS: Maine stories lobster feast
