WHY I LOVE ME!
>> Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Welcome to the First Ever Edition of WHY I LOVE ME! No, not me, but ME! For those of you west of New Hampshire, the abbreviation for Maine is 'ME'. See? This is going to be educational for you, but fun, too! Whoopee! I will present to you things you never knew about Maine because no one knows squat about this place other than it's cold.
Photo: Deb Port Clyde, ME
In this edition of Why I Love ME, I bring you....LOBSTERS!
<---LIVE
DEAD --->
Shucks Maine Lobster is a processing plant in Richmond, ME. They have devised a way to extract lobster meat without cooking the lobster by using a machine called the....(drum roll, man with deep voice that echoes): The "Big Mother Shucker." (I sent them an application to Humor Bloggers). Apparently this method ensures the meat is tender and not over cooked or double cooked as it would be in lobster stew if you used cooked lobster meat. How do you make lobster stew? Insult its mother. Wonder which is worse? Being plunged into boiling water or having the meat ripped out of you while still alive? You can think about that, I have other things to do.
Photo: Deb Rockport, ME
The Maine Lobster Promotion Council is trying to put a stop to the sale of "imposter lobsters." (their spelling, not mine). Maine lobstermen are being urged to tag their lobsters with a "Certified Maine Lobster" ID tag. Why you ask? This is so you will know you are getting a real live honest to God Maine lobster, not a scrawny Kansas lobster.
Speaking of Kansas, Mr. Man and I were at a nice restaurant in Bar Harbor a couple of years ago. A mom, dad and their two boys came in and sat at the next table. Accents made them from somewhere in the Midwest. They all ordered lobster, obviously for the first time. I had a taco salad, Mr. Man had a hamburger. We're not stupid.
The four plates with a bright red lobster on each were placed in front of them and they were all given plastic bibs. Why, oh, why would you eat something that requires you cover yourself with plastic first? After the waiter left, there was silence and a lot of whispering.
The waiter knew they were novices, so he came back and gave them a quick course on how to mangle a lobster. The crunching and cracking of the lobster shells began and then very loud, "EWWWWW"s from the two boys, more subdued "ewwww"s from the mom and "WAITER!" from the dad. Mr. Man and I knew exactly what had happened without even looking and we stifled the laughs. The poor waiter came running. The dad said, "These lobsters are bad! There's green stuff coming out of them!" The waiter explained it was "tomalley", but he didn't tell them it was the liver, or digestive system. He told them that lots of folks eat it. The hamburgers were brought out shortly after.
Get your clicky claws over to Humor-Blogs and Smiley me if you liked the lobster story and didn't puke.
Photo: Deb Port Clyde, ME In this edition of Why I Love ME, I bring you....LOBSTERS!
<---LIVE
DEAD --->
If it's red, it's dead.
Shucks Maine Lobster is a processing plant in Richmond, ME. They have devised a way to extract lobster meat without cooking the lobster by using a machine called the....(drum roll, man with deep voice that echoes): The "Big Mother Shucker." (I sent them an application to Humor Bloggers). Apparently this method ensures the meat is tender and not over cooked or double cooked as it would be in lobster stew if you used cooked lobster meat. How do you make lobster stew? Insult its mother. Wonder which is worse? Being plunged into boiling water or having the meat ripped out of you while still alive? You can think about that, I have other things to do.
Photo: Deb Rockport, MESpeaking of Kansas, Mr. Man and I were at a nice restaurant in Bar Harbor a couple of years ago. A mom, dad and their two boys came in and sat at the next table. Accents made them from somewhere in the Midwest. They all ordered lobster, obviously for the first time. I had a taco salad, Mr. Man had a hamburger. We're not stupid.
The four plates with a bright red lobster on each were placed in front of them and they were all given plastic bibs. Why, oh, why would you eat something that requires you cover yourself with plastic first? After the waiter left, there was silence and a lot of whispering.
The waiter knew they were novices, so he came back and gave them a quick course on how to mangle a lobster. The crunching and cracking of the lobster shells began and then very loud, "EWWWWW"s from the two boys, more subdued "ewwww"s from the mom and "WAITER!" from the dad. Mr. Man and I knew exactly what had happened without even looking and we stifled the laughs. The poor waiter came running. The dad said, "These lobsters are bad! There's green stuff coming out of them!" The waiter explained it was "tomalley", but he didn't tell them it was the liver, or digestive system. He told them that lots of folks eat it. The hamburgers were brought out shortly after.
Get your clicky claws over to Humor-Blogs and Smiley me if you liked the lobster story and didn't puke.
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21 comments:
I did learn something! I didn't know red=dead. I'm not a fan of anything that requires me to "work" to get to my food. I've only ever had lobster tail, grill and prepped for me. I'm a wus!
Nice post! I had a "whole" lobster for the first in Boston in the late 90's. I don't remember the green stuff and I certainly didn't know about it. I thought the lobster was tough. Maybe they brought us the "icky" lobsters since it's obvious we were from Texas. ;-)
I do know that Maine is beautiful!
Heh, they should call them impobsters. I wonder if they have to get a photo ID now?
I am reminded of one experience of a good friend at red lobster.
It's lunch time now, and that picture wants me to get a burger this time !
I too don't know anything about Maine except what the license place looks like - which I see whenever I go to Quebec.
"Vacationland!"
Well, red doesn't always mean "dead." Usualy it does, or cooked to be more accurate. Once in a while, though, you'll see a red "live" lobster right out of the water. I don't think you would actually see a live lobster that is completely red (with no green spots at all). Those are the cooked ones. You might even see a "Blue" one! But those are quite rare. Someone just the other day actually caught an "orange" lobster. Google it if you don't believe me.
The best way to have lobster IMO, in a roll with mayonnaise. Forget the melted butter, that's for tourists! I don't eat the tomalley myself. And, if you ever open one up, be sure to pull out and discard the long black "vein" in the tail before you dig in.
For those not knowing squat about ME... My favortie tourist story is about the guy who brought his family here for a vacation. When he got to the inn, the tide was out. He went into a rage and demanded his money back. In the morning, the tide was back in. He quickly apologized. And, yes, we do have hospitals here in Maine, too! That seems to be another of the top questions people "from away" like to ask. ??
Plus its the other state besides mine that has a Portland! Yeah...
Chat: I'm with you Chat, though I've never had lobster in any form.
Reforming: Yup. You got a Kansas lobster, you poor thing.
Heinous: The Coast Guard has set up a photo ID center for all lobsters. The state is now trying to figure out how to tax them.
Jaffer: Currently there are 22 different passenger license plates available in Maine. There are plates form a loon to the Wabanaki Indians. As for Vacation Land, it's no vacation here!
Brian: Check out the villagesoup.com article on the two lobsters, one blue and one orange, caught Oct. 29, story printed on Nov. 4th. I tried putting the link in here but it messes up the margins. You can view the story for a few more days before they make you pay to read it. The From Away people are great sources of entertainment. I was walking the dog when a couple drove along side me and asked me "How do we get to that lake over there?" They were referring to the Atlantic.
Ve: Yup! But we also have a China, Denmark and Peru. Go figure.
Doesn't Stephen King use Maine for all of his settings?
BTW...I luv lobster!!!
Don't remember all the green stuff though -- so that must be what makes Maine lobster special. Yum?!!
Angiess: King lives in Maine, and yes, he's used Maine locations for some movies - I don't think all that many, though. Shawshank Redemption was inspired by the old state prison in Thomaston. They had a gift shop you could go in with items made by the prisoners. The sign over the register said "From the Big House to Your House". I'll have to do a post on all the movies filmed here - Payton Place probably the biggest.
I can't talk about the green stuff. No one should eat anything that color.
I don't think I could eat lobster. Don't they drop them into boiling water alive to kill them?
Anyway, I'm allergic to so much stuff that I wouldn't risk shellfish!
Imposter lobsters! LOL!
Lobsters are truly noble creatures. They give their lives so we may experience rapture. Of course, it's probably not the lobsters' first choice, but let's not quibble when it comes to assessing heroism.
Yes, you read right. I did say I achieve a state of rapture when I eat a lobster. I'm a lonely guy; what can I say?
Jay: You have to be so careful these days with those 'imposter lobsters'. ID checks are a necessity.
Joel: Lobster = rapture? Doesn't take much, huh?
I love ME, too. Especially Popham Beach and Portland, which has all of those great micro-brew pubs.
Meg: I have yet to go to Popham Beach, but it's on the list! Portland is a great city. Reminds me of a mini Boston except in Portland the people don't want to kill you.
I can't wait for my ME lobster...while IN Maine! We're going next summer. I've never been,and it's where my Grandpa grew up.
But a guy my hubby worked with had to go to Maine for biz, and he came back with two live Maine lobsters for us!
One was not red, but it was dead. It's head had a big smash in it. When I cooked them up, I gave that one to Hubby in case it wasn't okay to eat already dead before you cook it lobster.
Well, HIS lobster was by far the tastiest, while mine was tough.
I decided to make lobster bisque the next day, at the urging of his colleague. I looked up a recipe, followed it to the T....and almost passed out when we sat down to eat it. (I've never had lobster bisque before...dunno if it was me or it).
After that, my house smelled like lobster for an entire WEEK.
Moral: Eat live Maine lobster OUTSIDE of your own home, and don't make lobster bisque yourself if you want to eat it. (I think the tomalley was involved in the broth). Blehhhhh.
Cass: The Terrorist used to pull 4 traps in the summer. He'd bring them home, give them to Sophia to cook for herself and the relatives, then he and I would head off to McDonald's because the smell was so horrendous. To this day, that smell makes me gag.
I agree about eating with a bib...but dang those things are tasty! And I think it's Baa Haa Baa if it's pronounced correctly lol. Great post
Nikki: LOL Baah Haa Baa! I met a woman from there. I asked her what part of Maine she lived in and honest to God I thought she kept saying Bahama. Her boyfriend translated for me.
I've eaten lobster a couple of times but only because fancy eateries don't serve steak and crawdads.
Beautiful pictures. I'd say you're mighty lucky to live there.
Wirecutter: I wouldn't imagine crawdads are much different. Smaller, but still have a face. Can't be eating things on a plate that have a face. That's just wrong.
Jack: Thank you! Yes, I would agree I am mighty lucky to live here, but hard work has a lot to do with it, too!
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