Maine Memories...

Don't get me wrong, the grilled cheese sandwich I devoured for dinner before heading back to the library for mass amounts of lecture writing and reading for seminars was very good. I make a damn tasty grilled cheese sandwich. But the solitary cooking of the sandwich, not to mention its lack of complexity and the quickness in which it was eaten, has got me reminiscing about the last family dinner I had in Portland with my Maine family--potatoes au gratin, empanadas stuffed with fresh Maine lobster, fish tacos made with local fish, avocado-mango dip, and grilled Maine shrimp complete with a specialty tequila cocktail to accompany the fantastic meal. A grilled cheese simply cannot compare to the company of friends and family and the leisurely cooking and consumption of delicious food on a quiet Sunday evening.  

While I can't be in Maine tonight, at least these photos captured some of the culinary joy of that meal...

Lobster Empanadas     

Tequila-Marinated Grilled Maine Shrimp

Tequila Cocktail with Freshly Squeezed Juices, Ginger Simple Syrup, and St. Germaine's Elderflower Liqueur 

Potatoes Au Gratin

Look at that burbling...

Fish Tacos

Mango-Avocado Dip 

The Lobster Shack at Two Lights

Let's talk about lobster rolls.

Back in May, Sonya and Pat decided to take me to the epic Lobster Shack at Two Lights, just outside Portland in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. This little shack had a line of running out the door and inside it was busy with customers listing off orders, cash registers ringing, and people trying to navigate the drink machine and condiment station. The indoor seating is in a rustic room lined with wood and draped in sailing paraphernalia. But it was nice enough to eat outside so we took our lobster rolls, fries, and fried clams to a picnic table that overlooked the waves crashing onto gray rocks.

My companions both claimed it to be the best lobster roll...ever. The New England style hot-dog buns (meaning they were split through the top crust) were grilled and buttery with large chunks of lobster piled on top. It was finished with a generous dollop of mayonnaise and the lobster was cradled in a couple pieces of lettuce--just enough for a crunch. The lobster roll was amazing and the company was great (though Pat couldn't stop dipping his jacket in mayo for some reason), but if I had to choose my absolute favorite lobster roll so far I think it's got to be the one from the Porthole--I know it's not a traditional, classic lobster roll like it is at Two Lights, but in terms of bursting ocean flavor I do think it's my fave.

The fried clams at Two Lights, however, really may be the best I've had. They were  plump whole clams fried up perfectly crisp. With each bite the crunchy exterior gave way to a juicy, luscious burst of clam--a striking combination of fried batter and a splash of sea flavor. I recommend eating the fried clams right away if you do order them so you can pop them in your mouth while they are still hot and crispy.

The Lobster Shack at Two Lights is a great spot to grab some seafood and soak in the view of the ocean. It's just a short, scenic drive from Portland. But be wary of hungry seagulls! They seem to stalk the grounds of Two Lights, searching for lost bits of crispy fries and pieces of lobster.

 

 

Maine Lobstah

Who goes to Maine on her spring break? This girl, that’s who. While other people might choose to sun themselves on warm beaches and drink tropical cocktails, I headed north to Portland, Maine, to spend a week off from school with my Maine family.

The first night that I arrived in Maine lobster was on the menu. I enjoy lobster, but I haven’t really engaged in the whole steaming a live lobster. Being in Maine, however, basically requires that lobster be eaten, so it was a necessary endeavor.

We started out with live lobsters. They are such strange creatures—like giant sea bugs that just happen to taste amazing if you can only crack through their tough exterior.

Maddy was very intrigued by the lobsters…

 

Cooking lobsters, of course, means killing lobsters. It’s rare in this day and age to have a close experience with the food that you are about to eat. So much of our food is preprocessed and packaged—it passes through multiple hands before it actually gets to your table, which seriously deteriorates any direct connection with your food. But with lobsters it’s different. Even though it’s unlikely that you would be out on the boat actually catching the lobster, you do get to interact with it before it becomes food. And by interact I mean take away its life.

It’s not so bad really—just grab the crustaceans and throw them in a pot with a little water to steam them. I didn’t feel particularly guilty, but it was weird to lift up the lid and see the lobsters, which so recently moved around their little claws and bodies suddenly be so still. And so red. It reminds me of when Bebe in Kill Bill 2 explains how she killed her fish, Emilio—one moment he was flapping on the carpet and then after she stepped on him he wasn’t. “Is that not the perfect visual image of death?” asks Bill, “a fish flapping on the carpet, and a fish not flapping on the carpet.” The same might be said for the lobster—a lobster waving its claws, and a lobster not waving its claws.

 

After we were done steaming our lobsters it was time to eat, but unfortunately there were no lobster crackers in sight. So what do the men do? Bust out tools of course—all of a sudden there emerged hammers, pliers, screwdrivers…you name it. So while they bashed away at their lobsters with the tools my sister artfully and skillfully helped me cut open the lobster tail with a pair of kitchen scissors. Aren’t the social constructions of gender simply fascinating?
 
The lobster meat itself was delicious. I started off with the tail but soon discovered that my favorite parts of the lobster were the joints and claws. There is something about the claw and joint meat that just seems to capture the essence of the ocean a little bit better. I love the taste of the sea concentrated into food—it’s like a taste of the infinite possibilities of that mysterious, watery realm.

If you find yourself in Maine, eating lobster is a must. You definitely don’t want to miss out on devouring one of this strange yet delicious sea creatures...just don't forget the lobster crackers.