Are Lobsters Endangered?

For the first time, I spent a considerable amount of time in the 'burbs of Boston where my uncle's home is because that is where the reunion was. The 'burbs that I spent time in are Concord, Lexington, Sudbury, and Maynard where all the colonial, revolutionary and transcendentalist movments were all the rage many years ago. Now, this area is almost indistinguishable from any other suburb in the USA.

The one thing that distinguishes the Boston 'burbs from other USA 'burbs is that there are still signs of ties to the Atlantic Ocean and cooking up a decent lobster. One dinner I had was at the Quarterdeck Fish Market Restaurant 177 Main St, Maynard, MA. They cooked up a really great lobster. It is just a lobster in a pot of boiling water and then served on a plate. There is no breading, there is no sauce, there are no herbs. It is just the lobster as it is. It was the Perfectly Prepared Lobster.

As the lore goes, there were a lot of lobsters wondering around the shallow waters of Boston, the north shore, the south shore and Cape Cod during the beginning of the colonial movement. During colonial days, the poor, servants, and freemen without land ate lobsters because they were plentiful and they could just pick them up from the beaches. No one owned lobsters, they did not have to be grown on land, and they were there for the picking. The rich did not touch these "beach bugs". Somewhere along the history of lobsters, they became to harder to come by, and then lobsters became food of the rich. Well, I am not rich, but I did budget for a lobster dinner. I enjoy the salty, tender yet firm meat from the lobster when I can get a good one. When I was young, my mother showed me how to eat all the meat from the little straw legs, the honeycomb of the body, the claws and tail. The waitress at the Quarterdeck was impressed that I so thorough with the lobster and not let one morsel go to waste. When it is such a rarity for me to have lobster, I am certainly going to make the best of each lobster I get.

To start my meal, I had some fried oysters. Before I got them, I asked the waitress what kind of oysters they were. She said they were a certain variety (which escapes my memory now) from Prince Edward Island, and she went back to the chef to find out. Yes indeed she was right. I was happy she understood my question. When I asked that in Nashville, a town in a land locked state that should not be serving oysters, the restaurant staff usually says that they are "fried". These fried oysters were fresh oysters lightly breaded and quickly fried to a light perfection. I was in heaven.

So, I finished off my Mystic Pizza movie quote, "I thought the only two things that come through here were lobster and cod." It was delicious and was happy to do it. I could eat lobster and cod more often, but only eating them when I go back to see my family makes the dining experiences special. Until next time Boston, I will think fondly of my cod sandwich and my lobster dinner.

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Boston Eats
Lobster