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Lobster, Broiled
Take a medium-sized freshly-boiled cock lobster, split it open from head to tail, remove what are called the lady fingers, which are not to be eaten, sprinkle a little white pepper over the meat, and place pieces of butter here and there upon it. Lay the shells open upon a gridiron above a bright, clear fire, and when quite hot, serve on a neatly-folded napkin. Time to broil, a quarter of an hour. Sufficient for four or five persons. Probable cost, 1s. 6d. to 3s.
This is a finishing technique rather than a cooking method: the lobster is already boiled, and the fire only reheats it and browns the butter. Everything depends on keeping it brief.
- Time is the hingeA quarter of an hour over live coals will turn already-cooked lobster meat dry and stringy. Under a hot broiler or over a hot grill the shells need only 4 to 6 minutes, until the butter is bubbling and the meat is hot through.
- "Cock lobster"A male lobster. Cock lobsters were traditionally held to have the better flesh and larger claws, though the recipe does not say why one is specified; the hen carries the coral (roe), which was valued for sauces and butters. Any 1 to 1.5 lb lobster works; ask the fishmonger to boil it if you prefer.
- Lady fingersThe feathery grey-white gills lying along either side of the body cavity. Pull them out and discard. The green tomalley and any coral are edible and often prized, though tomalley is where contaminants concentrate and is best eaten sparingly.
- GridironA grated iron rack set over the coals. A gas or charcoal grill, or a broiler rack about 4 inches from the element, does the same job. Set the halves cut side up so the butter stays in the shell.
- ButterCold butter dotted over the meat, not melted and brushed on, so it bastes as it goes. About 1 oz per lobster half is right; a squeeze of lemon at the table is standard now and does no harm.
- Yield"Sufficient for four or five persons" assumes a multi-course Victorian dinner. As a modern main course one medium lobster feeds two, or one if the lobster is small.
- The napkinServing on a folded linen napkin was the conventional presentation for such dishes; it would also catch butter and keep the shells from sliding on the platter.
- CostThe recipe gives 1s. 6d. to 3s., a moderate but not trivial sum for a Victorian household.
Broiling over a gridiron above a clear coal fire was a familiar way of serving split lobster hot, the shell acting as its own dish. The recipe's specification of a "cock" lobster reflects a distinction between male and female lobsters that few modern shoppers encounter, the hen being valued for her coral. The "lady fingers" the recipe warns against are the gills.