Order By Mail Lobster

My mum once told me that she had been embarrassed to take a lobster sandwich to school for lunch because it told everyone how poor the family was. I think I really had trouble believing that because I can't imagine anything tastier than a lobster and lettuce sandwich made with homemade bread, miracle whip and real butter.

Lobster fishing began in the late 1800's around the islands. The basic methods that were used then are still being used today. Differences were that it was one trap to a buoy and there was an unlimited number of traps allowed. The traps were set close to the shoreline with small "flats" for flat bottom boats with a single masted sail attached.

The fishermen will set their gear on Saturday, May 1st, 2010 and fish them on Monday, May 3rd, 2010.
The season will end on Saturday, July 3rd, 2010, when all the gear must be placed on shore.

The countdown to fresh lobster has begun here on the island - 15 days till lobster are at the wharf.

Atlantic Lobster is not only delicious, it is highly versatile and one of the most nutritious sources of protein you can find. Canadian Atlantic Lobster is known by many names including: Atlantic Lobster, American Lobster, Canadian Reds, Northern Lobster and Maine Lobster but no matter what you call it, once you've tasted Magdalen Islands lobster you will know why it is King.

Lobster is easily Canada's most valuable seafood export and more than 60 countries worldwide enjoy the delicious taste from our waters.

Traps are attached to lines and set out. They are hauled up into boats to retrieve the catch. This method maintains the integrity of the seafloor, keeping it a good habitat for years to come.

There are 41 zones dedicated to fishing lobster. The Magdalen Islands is in Lobster Fishing Area 22. Fisheries and Oceans Canada with the collaboration of the fishermen of the Magdalen Islands put very restrictive conservation measures in the form of an integrated management plan to assure a sustainable fishery in this area.

The plan has reduced the number of traps a fisher may set from 300 to 296 and increased the sized of the carapace of the lobster taken. This allows females to grow larger and spawn more times during their life span. Spawned and "ragged" females must be returned to the sea floor safely.

Trap designs are also regulated. They must include escape mechanisms so that undersized lobster can get out and they must have biodegradable panels and rings to ensure that traps lost at sea do not continue to catch lobster and other species.

There is no night fishing allowed in zone 22. The boats retrieve their traps after 5:00am and must have the catch ashore before supper for the most part. Sunday fishing is also prohibited.

The true secret to cooking lobster is in the salted water. Many people, chefs included don't realize just how efficient the live lobsters filtering system really is. In order to get the salt right, the best is to use the sea saltwater that the shellfish was originally caught in. That way the salt is exactly what the lobster filtered out.

For example, the Magdalen Islands is in the middle of the Gulf of St Lawrence Seaway with the entire tributary of fresh water mixing with the sea ocean water. It stands to reason that the lobster are not living in the salty water of the Atlantic, therefore the filtering system of the lobster does not have to work overtime, cleaning the intake of water.

I'll never forget the first time I cooked lobster, yuck!!! It turned out a teaspon of iodized table salt in the boiling water was not good enough to bring the rich taste of lobster to life.

The best lobster I ever tasted was when, as a young girl, my uncle took his daughter and I out fishing, on the last day of the season. He made us a lunch of cooked lobster which was boiled in a pot with the gulf water. He didn't have a stove on the boat so he wired the pot to the exhaust pipe of the lobster fishing boat and the lobster cooked, while he and his helper worked. Until that day, I wasn't fond of the taste of lobster. What an eye-opener that was!

Using sea salt in hot water simulates the sea water well enough if spring water is used. Town water has too many chemicals put in it to make it clean enough for human consumption.

And don't forget to REMOVE THE RUBBER BANDS from the claws before immersing the lobster into the water. Can you imagine how the taste of the lobster changes when boiled with thick, dyed rubber bands?

Boil or steam 15 to 20 minutes, no longer or the meat will shrink, dry out quicker and worse, stick to the inside of the shell. It is very frustrating trying to remove lobster when it is stuck to the shell.

Serve with a fresh roll and dip the meat in a warmed bowl of garlic butter.

Picks and crackers are used in most restaurants but at home the handle of a fork, or spoon will do. A large butcher knife to crack the claws and a fork to pull the tail from the shell in one piece.

There is nothing more scrumptious then Magdalen Islands fresh seafood pizza, piled high with the most tender lobster, crab and scallops imaginable. No one knows more about seafood than the Island chefs. Although I don't consider myself a chef, I have played with a basic Magdalen Islands recipe, adding thyme, bay leaf , cloves and mushrooms and tweaking the pizza dough to make it rise better, yet taste less yeasty, and adding shrimp, therefore making it mine. The simple trick to this kind of pizza is in the slow cooking of the Béchamel Sauce.

Pizza Dough

3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water, not hot
1 tbsp yeast
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt

Pour warm water, comfortable to touch, into a bowl. Add the sugar and salt. Blend with a wooden spoon. Add the yeast and mix. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of flour and the olive oil and mix until well blended. Add the rest of the flour and mix well. The dough should turn into a ball. If the dough does not ball up because it's too dry, add water one tablespoon at a time until it does. If your mixture is more like a batter, add flour one tablespoon at a time. Adding water or flour as needed to get the right consistency will assure you always get a perfect dough. Just remember to do it in small amounts.

Once the dough is balled up, place the ball on a floured board and knead for about a minute. This helps the dough to rise and become fluffy when cooked. Place the dough in a plastic grocery bag or a covered bowl and store in a warm, dry area to rise.

After about 45 minutes the dough should have about doubled in size. Punch it down and let it rise for another hour to an hour and a half. Repeat if desired. The dough is now ready to be rolled out.

Béchamel Sauce

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 cup chopped mushrooms, optional
1 small onion studded with 2 or 3 cloves, optional
1 small bay leaf
dash dried leaf thyme, crumbled
salt and white pepper to taste
nutmeg, to taste

In a medium heavy saucepan, melt butter over low heat. When butter starts to foam, add flour all at once, mixing well with a wooden spoon. Cook over low heat 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly to incorporate and cook flour. Remove pan from heat and let stand, up to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, scald milk (heating it until just below boiling point).

Return saucepan with roux to medium-low heat. Add all of the scalded milk at once (to avoid the formation of lumps). Simmer, stirring gently with a wire whisk or wooden spoon. Add onion studded with cloves, bay leaf and thyme. A cup of mushrooms chopped into small pieces can be added to the sauce. Cook, stirring, over low heat, 15 to 20 minutes, until smooth and thickened. Strain sauce through fine-mesh strainer. Add salt, white pepper and nutmeg to taste. Set the sauce aside while you prepare the toppings. This makes about 2 cups of sauce.

Cook lobster, shell and break into bite-sized pieces. Do the same for the crab and scallop. If desired a can of baby shrimp can also be added to the layers of toppings. Have plenty shredded mozzarella cheese or three cheese pizza mix. When prepared this should make two large 15" pizzas.