The Ultimate Lobster
Nova Scotia’s Delicacy as an Everyday Food
Skilfully, powerfully, Alain C. thrusts his arm through the weirs of the cage and makes a grab. From out of the tangle of claws, feelers, and legs, the seaman seizes a female lobster weighing several kilos. Grinning broadly, he holds the creature above his head like a trophy. After he tosses the living prize back into the ocean where it disappears into the waves, each guest is served a cooked lobster. “Now, it’s getting juicy“, Alain informs the group. With professional skill, he shows them how to dismember the creature, to extract its tender flesh from the bony carapace. He tosses the head aside, and with evident relish, sucks out the contents of one leg. At the next table, Alain urges his apprentices to try their own hands. Each guest receives a lobster, an apron, and an appropriate implement. A mood of intense concentration prevails. Finally, his charges have mastered the use of their lobster tongs and fondue style fork, removing the flesh from the crushed outer shell.
The lobsters found along the Nova Scotia coastline are the largest and tastiest in the world. They grow up to 70 cm in length, and can weigh as many as 9 kg. The lobster is not only consumed here. Treated almost with reverence, it is just as essential to the character of this North Atlantic Canadian province as the power of the sea and continent’s recent European history. Despite its cool, nutrient rich ocean waters, the region around Nova Scotia is affected by over fishing. Then there is the expense of fishing licenses and of maintaining and accommodating boats. A lobster fisherman runs through approximately 400,000 Canadian dollars before acquiring the right harvest from these scrupulously patrolled fishing grounds. Licenses are guarded like treasures and passed down from one generation to the next. The lobster fishermen of Nova Scotia are among the most affluent inhabitants of this small province. Meanwhile, their numbers have dwindled in recent years due to the restricted number of available licenses, but for the few who are still active, the business has become more lucrative despite the brevity of the fishing season. They catch increasing quantities of lobster, simply because there are ever greater quantities to catch. This will continue for as long as possible. Yet here too, oceanographers are warning of the impending collapse of commercial fisheries. Which is why so many former lobstermen are active in the tourism industry. In this context, the lobster is clearly the trademark for the region as a whole. It is on offer everywhere, from elegant restaurants – where it is served in gourmet preparations – all the way to fast food chains like McDonalds and Subway, which offer dollar burgers and sandwiches containing lobster at minimal prices. It is difficult to find a community where outsized advertisements in the form of the red crustacean are not prominent.
