Red Alert!
You may not know as much about lobster as you think, warns Barnacle Billy.
Barnacle Billy’s is an Ogunquit institution. And so is its owner Billy Tower, who’s been catching, cooking, and feeding rich, famous, and dedicated lobster-lovers for 45 years. Test your own seaworthiness with Barnacle Billy’s true-or-false crustacean quiz.
It has to be from Maine. (False) “There’s not much difference between Maine and Canadian lobster,” says Tower. Maine has the brand, but during the busy season almost everyone imports from up north: In 2004, Canada trapped 53,060 tons of lobster versus Maine’s 31,575.
Summer lobsters rock. (False) According to Tower, a lobster sheds its shell in warmer July water and begins growing a new one that hardens later on. That means late-summer lobsters look bigger, but have up to 20 percent less meat than their spring cousins of comparable weight.
Lobsters are cannibals. (True) Lobsters typically eat crabs, clams, mussels, and the occasional dull-witted fish. In a fight or in captivity, however, they have been known to eat one another. This is why their claws are banded before sale.
Bigger (or smaller) is better. (False) Tower says lobster tastes the same, whatever the size. But extra-large lobsters—anything longer than five inches from the eyes to the end of the hard shell—are illegal in Maine. Gluttons: Stay in Massachusetts or head to New Hampshire, both of which have looser restrictions.
Lobsters can be hypnotized. (True) Stand the lobster on its head with its claws in front and its tail curled inward. Rub your hand down its back shell, and massage between the eyes. There is no evidence, however, that this will make boiling less painful.
You New Englanders eat a lot of lobster. (Maybe) But have you ever consumed 44 lobsters in 12 minutes? That’s what Sonya Thomas, a.k.a. the Black Widow, did, setting a world record at the World Lobster Eating Festival in Kennebunkport in 2005.
LOBSTERPALOOZA!
For more of our special report on New Englands favorite summertime dish, click on:
Tails of the City: One womans quest for the perfect lobster roll
Boiling Point: Find out whos taking aim at your lobster dinner.
The Lobster Trap: Meet the family behind Bostons rep as a lobstah town.
For more of our special report on New Englands favorite summertime dish, click on:
Tails of the City: One womans quest for the perfect lobster roll
Boiling Point: Find out whos taking aim at your lobster dinner.
The Lobster Trap: Meet the family behind Bostons rep as a lobstah town.
Summer lobsters rock. (False) According to Tower, a lobster sheds its shell in warmer July water and begins growing a new one that hardens later on. That means late-summer lobsters look bigger, but have up to 20 percent less meat than their spring cousins of comparable weight.
Lobsters are cannibals. (True) Lobsters typically eat crabs, clams, mussels, and the occasional dull-witted fish. In a fight or in captivity, however, they have been known to eat one another. This is why their claws are banded before sale.
Bigger (or smaller) is better. (False) Tower says lobster tastes the same, whatever the size. But extra-large lobsters—anything longer than five inches from the eyes to the end of the hard shell—are illegal in Maine. Gluttons: Stay in Massachusetts or head to New Hampshire, both of which have looser restrictions.
Lobsters can be hypnotized. (True) Stand the lobster on its head with its claws in front and its tail curled inward. Rub your hand down its back shell, and massage between the eyes. There is no evidence, however, that this will make boiling less painful.
You New Englanders eat a lot of lobster. (Maybe) But have you ever consumed 44 lobsters in 12 minutes? That’s what Sonya Thomas, a.k.a. the Black Widow, did, setting a world record at the World Lobster Eating Festival in Kennebunkport in 2005.
Originally published in Boston magazine, July 2006
