LOBSTER À L’AMÉRICAINE

SOURCE: JULIA CHILD, SIMONE BECK, AND LOUISETTE BERTHOLLE. MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING, VOLUME I.

American by name and French by concept and execution, the transatlantic identity of Lobster à l’Américaine has turned the dish into the subject of a custody battle between purebred provincial French cuisine and culturally adulterated Parisian cookery. On one side, Lobster à l’Americaine, some argue, is actually Lobster à l’Armoricaine, named after the archaic Gaelic region of Armorica in present-day Brittany where the Celts sought refuge from Viking invasions and imperial Roman rule and where the blue European lobster, Homarus gammarus, thrive to become the best lobsters in France. However, stronger opposition to this view seems to be the case due to the insufficient evidence on the Armorican roots, the absence of garlic and tomatoes in local Breton cooking, the New World origin of tomatoes when they were discovered as “golden apples” during the Age of Exploration, and Pierre Fraisse, the chef-creator of the dish, allegedly coining the Amèricaine aspect of the dish to either the nationality of his restaurant patrons in Paris or its hasty preparation reminding him of his culinary stint in the United States.

Ingredients

3 live lobsters, weighing around 1.5 pounds/680 grams each

3 tablespoons/45 mL extra virgin olive oil or peanut oil

2.5 ounces/70 grams finely diced carrots

6 ounces/170 grams finely diced onions

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons/20 grams finely chopped shallots or scallions

1-2 cloves garlic, mashed

1/3 cup/80 mL Cognac

16 ounces/450 grams fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, juiced and chopped

2 tablespoons/33 grams tomato paste

1 cup/250 mL fish stock OR 1/3 cup/80 mL bottled or canned clam juice

1 1/2 cups/375 mL dry white wine OR 1 cup/250 mL dry vermouth

2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon minced tarragon leaves

OPTIONAL: 1 1/2 teaspoon/8 mL meat glaze

6 tablespoons/85 grams butter, softened

OPTIONAL: A ring of steamed white rice or risotto simmered in saffron and fish stock with an outer diameter of 12 inches/30 cm and an inner diameter of 4 inches/10 cm

Minced parsley for garnish

Specific Equipment

Heavy-duty skillet or casserole

Fine-mesh sieve or strainer

Serves 6

Instructions

1. Split the lobsters in two lengthwise. Pull out and discard the stomach or the sand sac located between the eyes and the intestinal vein that runs along the entire length of the lobster body. Scoop out and reserve the tomalley or the green matter found in the chest cavity. If the lobster is female identified by the soft and hairy swimmerets on the underside, scoop out the orange-red roe and add to the tomalley. Disjoint and crack the lobster pincers open, and disembody the tails from the chest while retaining the shell intact.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.

3. Set the olive oil or peanut oil in a skillet or casserole and heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the lobster pieces , meat-side down, and sauté for several minutes, turning or tossing a few times until shells turn bright red. Remove the lobster pieces from the skillet or casserole, and set aside.

4. Cook the finely diced carrots and onions in the same skillet or casserole slowly for 5 minutes or until tender under moderate heat.. Return the lobster pieces to the skillet or casserole; season lightly with salt and pepper. Stir in the shallots or scallions and garlic.

5. Pour in the Cognac, and ignite with with a lighted match. Shake the skillet or casserole slowly to spread the flames evenly around the skillet until completely subsided.

6. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, fish stock or clam juice, white wine or vermouth, minced flat-leaf parsley and tarragon, and the optional meat glaze to the lobster. Bring everything to a simmer and cover. Transfer the covered skillet or casserole to the middle level of the oven, and leave the lobster to simmer quietly inside the oven for 20 minutes.

7. Mix the reserved tomalley and softened butter altogether. Push the mixture through the fine-mesh sieve or strainer, collecting as much tomalley-butter extract as possible, and set aside.

8. Remove the skillet or casserole from the oven, and set the lobster aside, leaving the sparingly thin sauce in the skillet or casserole. Lobster meat may be removed from the shells, if desired. Place the skillet or casserole above the stove burner and raise the heat to high to reduce the sauce briefly until it reaches a slight thickness and remains liquid. Correct seasoning if necessary by adjusting the tomato paste or salt and pepper.

9. Take a half cupful of the sauce from skillet or casserole and beat it gradually into the tomalley-butter extract to make a smooth liaison that will thicken the sauce.

10. Return the lobster to the sauce in the skillet or casserole and simmer slowly under moderately low heat. Pour in the tomalley-butter liaison to the lobster. Shake and swirl the skillet or casserole for 2-3 minutes to coat the lobster pieces with the sauce.

11. Arrange the lobster pieces around the rice ring, if desired. Pour the leftover sauce from the skillet or casserole, if any, over the lobster pieces. Decorate with minced parsley for garnish..