Lobster is commonly served boiled or steamed in the shell. Diners crack the shell with
lobster crackers and fish out the meat with
lobster picks. The meat is often eaten with
melted butter and
lemon juice. Lobster is also used in soup,
bisque,
lobster rolls,
cappon magro, and dishes such as
lobster Newberg and
lobster Thermidor. Cooks primarily boil or steam live lobsters. When a lobster is cooked, its shell's color changes from brown to orange because the heat from cooking breaks down a protein called
crustacyanin, which suppresses the orange hue of the chemical
astaxanthin, which is also found in the shell. According to the United States
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the mean level of
mercury in
American lobster between 2005 and 2007 was 0.107
ppm. (The FDA has set a maximum permissible level of methylmercury in seafood to 1 ppm.) File:Lobster in Boston.jpg|Boiled lobster ready for eating File:Lobster claw, knuckle, and tail meat.jpg|Lobster meat File:Lobster in Stokkseyri.jpg|Lobster served in
Stokkseyri, Iceland File:Kentish crab rolls.jpg|alt=Lobster rolls in Kent, England|Lobster rolls in
Kent, England
History (watercolour, 1826 or 1827) Humans are claimed to have eaten lobster since early history. Large piles of lobster shells near areas populated by fishing communities attest to the crustacean's extreme popularity during this period. Evidence indicates that lobster was being consumed as a regular food product in fishing communities along the shores of Britain, South Africa, Australia, and Papua New Guinea years ago. Lobster became a significant source of nutrients among European coastal dwellers. Historians suggest lobster was an important secondary food source for most European coastal dwellers, and it was a primary food source for coastal communities in Britain during this time. Lobster became a popular mid-range delicacy during the
mid to late Roman period. The price of lobster could vary widely due to various factors, but evidence indicates that lobster was regularly transported inland over long distances to meet popular demand. A mosaic found in the ruins of
Pompeii suggests that the
spiny lobster was of considerable interest to the Roman population during the early imperial period. It was a popular food among the
Moche people of Peru between 50 CE and 800 CE. Besides that, lobster shells were also used to create a light pink dye, ornaments, and tools. A mass-produced lobster-shaped effigy vessel dated to this period attests to lobster's popularity at this time, though the purpose of this vessel has not been identified. The
Viking period saw an increase in lobster and other shellfish consumption among northern Europeans. This can be attributed to the overall increase in marine activity due to the development of better boats and the increasing cultural investment in building ships and training sailors. The consumption of marine life went up overall in this period, and the consumption of lobster went up in accordance with this general trend. Unlike fish, however, lobster had to be cooked within two days of leaving salt water, limiting the availability of lobster for inland dwellers. Thus lobster, more than fish, became a food primarily available to the relatively well-off, at least among non-coastal dwellers. Lobster is first mentioned in cookbooks during the medieval period.
Le Viandier de Taillevent, a French recipe collection written around 1300, suggests that lobster (also called saltwater crayfish) be "Cooked in wine and water, or in the oven; eaten in vinegar."
Le Viandier de Taillevent is considered to be one of the first "haute cuisine" cookbooks, advising on how to cook meals that would have been quite elaborate for the period and making usage of expensive and hard to obtain ingredients. Though the original edition, which includes the recipe for lobster, was published before the birth of French court cook
Guillaume Tirel, Tirel later expanded and republished this recipe collection, suggesting that the recipes included in both editions were popular among the highest circles of French nobility, including King Philip VI. The inclusion of a lobster recipe in this cookbook, especially one which does not make use of other more expensive ingredients, attests to the popularity of lobster among the wealthy. The French household guidebook
Le Ménagier de Paris, published in 1393, includes no less than five recipes including lobster, which vary in elaboration. A guidebook intended to provide advice for women running upper-class households,
Le Ménagier de Paris is similar to its predecessor in that it indicates the popularity of lobster as a food among the upper classes. That lobster was first mentioned in cookbooks during the 1300s and only mentioned in two during this century should not be taken as an implication that lobster was not widely consumed before or during this time. Recipe collections were virtually non-existent before the 1300s, and only a handful exist from the medieval period. During the early 1400s, lobster was still a popular dish among the upper classes. During this time, influential households used the variety and variation of species served at feasts to display wealth and prestige. Lobster was commonly found among these spreads, indicating that it continued to be held in high esteem among the wealthy. In one notable instance, the
Bishop of Salisbury offered at least 42 kinds of crustaceans and fish at his feasts over nine months, including several varieties of lobster. However, lobster was not a food exclusively accessed by the wealthy. The general population living on the coasts made use of the various food sources provided by the ocean, and shellfish especially became a more popular source of nutrition. Among the general population, lobster was generally eaten boiled during the mid-15th century, but the influence of the cuisine of higher society can be seen in that it was now also regularly eaten cold with vinegar. The inland peasantry would still have generally been unfamiliar with lobster during this time. Lobster continued to be eaten as a delicacy and a general staple food among coastal communities until the late 17th century. During this time, the influence of the Church and the government regulating and sometimes banning meat consumption during certain periods continued to encourage the popularity of seafood, especially shellfish, as a
meat alternative among all classes. Throughout this period, lobster was eaten fresh,
pickled, and
salted. From the late 17th century onward, developments in fishing, transportation, and cooking technology allowed lobster to more easily make its way inland, and the variety of dishes involving lobster and cooking techniques used with the ingredient expanded. However, these developments coincided with a decrease in the lobster population, and lobster increasingly became a delicacy food, valued among the rich as a status symbol and less likely to be found in the diet of the general population. The American lobster was not originally popular among European colonists in North America. This was partially due to the European inlander's association of lobster with barely edible salted seafood and partially due to a cultural opinion that seafood was a lesser alternative to meat that did not provide the taste or nutrients desired. It was also due to the extreme abundance of lobster at the time of the colonists' arrival, which contributed to a general perception of lobster as an undesirable peasant food. The American lobster did not achieve popularity until the mid-19th century when New Yorkers and Bostonians developed a taste for it, and commercial lobster fisheries only flourished after the development of the
lobster smack, a custom-made boat with open holding wells on the deck to keep the lobsters alive during transport. Before this time, lobster was considered a
poverty food or as a food for
indentured servants or lower members of society in
Maine,
Massachusetts, and the
Canadian Maritimes. Some servants specified in employment agreements that they would not eat lobster more than twice per week, however there is limited evidence for this. American lobster was initially deemed worthy only of being used as
fertilizer or fish bait, and until well into the 20th century, it was not viewed as more than a low-priced canned staple food. As a crustacean, lobster remains a
taboo food in the
dietary laws of
Judaism and
certain streams of
Islam.
Grading Caught lobsters are graded as new-shell, hard-shell, or old-shell. Because lobsters that have recently shed their shells are the most delicate, an inverse relationship exists between the price of American lobster and its flavor. New-shell lobsters have paper-thin shells and a worse meat-to-shell ratio, but the meat is very sweet. However, the lobsters are so delicate that even transport to Boston almost kills them, making the market for new-shell lobsters strictly local to the fishing towns where they are offloaded. Hard-shell lobsters with firm shells but less sweet meat can survive shipping to Boston, New York, and even Los Angeles, so they command a higher price than new-shell lobsters. Meanwhile, old-shell lobsters, which have not shed since the previous season and have a coarser flavor, can be shipped by air anywhere in the world and arrive alive, making them the most expensive.
Killing methods and animal welfare Several methods are used for killing lobsters. The most common way of killing lobsters is by placing them live in boiling water, sometimes after being placed in a freezer for a period. Boiling lobsters has been banned in several jurisdictions, including Switzerland, New Zealand, and parts of Italy. In Italy, offenders face fines of up to €495. Another method is to split the lobster or sever the body in half lengthwise. To effectively kill the lobster quickly, the whole lobster must be split in two (not just its head, as is the practice in some restaurants). Lobsters can be killed by
electrocution prior to cooking. Another method of rendering a lobster unconscious, chilling, has not been found to be effective. Slowly raising the water temperature may also cause pain in crustaceans over a longer period of time.
Legal status Norway,
Austria,
New Zealand and some
Australian territories also place restrictions on the inhumane treatment of lobsters. Cities in
Germany and
Italy also have explicitly banned the practice of boiling lobsters alive. In 2018,
Switzerland was the first country to ban the live boiling of lobsters. In Switzerland lobsters need to be knocked out, or killed instantly, before they are boiled. They also receive other forms of protection while in transit.
Recognition of the sentience of European lobsters A 2021 London School of Economics report found strong evidence to suggest that lobsters can experience pain. Following the publication of the report, octopuses, crabs and lobsters are now protected under stronger animal welfare legislation in the UK (under the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill). == Fishery and aquaculture ==