Consider the Lobster

Don't even tell me, because I know -- this is just about 100% O/T. My town is more than 100 miles from the coastline, so it seems unlikely lobsters fall into the "locavore" or "sustainability" category, and I'm procuring these guys from a (small, family) Maine purveyor using non-earth-friendly packing and shipping methods. Except that I've been reading Trevor Corson's The Secret Life of Lobsters, while musing over what to serve for my first at-home Christmas Eve dinner, which means SEAFOOD under one of the very few family traditions I follow, and...inspiration struck, what can I say.

The Maine lobstering community in the Cranberry Isles, ME, reminds me a lot of our local farmers here in the Pioneer Valley. Some of the same concerns prevail -- market conditions, large-scale, outside corporate and governmental influence and regulation, the changing environment, and managing for sustainability. They are specialists in their field, conscientious about not over-fishing, and while they compete for product, they seem to have a great deal of respect for one another.

A few fun facts about lobsters (there are more here) -- did you know:

*There are more than 50 species of clawed lobsters
*There are hunchback locust lobsters, regal slipper lobsters, marbled mitten lobsters, velvet fan lobsters, musical furry lobsters, unicorn and buffalo blunt-horn lobsters
*Female lobsters choose the males they want to propagate with
*Lobsters of the same size may challenge each other using a form of claw-wrestling. After about 15 or 20 seconds the "loser" will try to back away, and the "winner" will release his grip.
*There are, occasionally, blue Maine lobsters.

Read Corson's book to learn about "superlobsters" -- a brief point in a lobster's development, when they can almost "fly" through the sea before finding shelter, shedding their shell, and growing larger.

Or for more fun facts -- just don't rely on them to be true -- check out John Hodgman's unique coverage of lobsters in The Areas of My Expertise.

I was always a little queasy about the idea of cooking lobster at home, and you'd think reading this book, understanding how special lobsters are, might not have resulted in my ordering lobster for Christmas Eve dinner. Maybe I just got hungry... But I'd rather think I was inspired to participate in the process a little more actively as opposed to occasionally driving to a shoreline and having a cooked entree appear magically before me. I want to take a little more responsibility for what I'm eating, and understand it better.

So, four 1.25 pound lobsters (smaller are sweeter) will show up at my door on Christmas Eve, and after reading up on many options for their dispatch, I plan to boil about an inch of water in a big pot, thank them, drop them in, hold down the lid, and try to forgive myself. I don't think I'll be naming these guys -- couldn't possibly top what's already been done before.

I'm going to stop whining about "the kill" now because I'm starting to remind myself of my absolute favorite poem...

Happy holidays!

Distinctive Tastes

We ordered takeout from China Gourmet last week, and I was looking for something spicy and savory that had no relation to turkey, potatoes, or winter squash, so I ordered the shredded pork with black bean sauce -- and wow, it was just the thing to completely reboot my palate. It was tangy, sharp, and completely memorable (was it just umami? or something more?). I had only ever read about fermented black beans in More Home Cooking by the wonderful and much-misssed Laurie Colwin. She says,

"I have not been without fermented black beans since I first encountered them years ago in a dish of shrimp in black bean sauce. These are pungent little beans preserved in salt and ginger. ...They are heavenly in vegetable pastas: Chopped up cauliflower or broccoli sauteed in olive oil and garlic and sprinkled with some fermented black beans on top of linguine is fast, easy, and totally delicious. This basic method works well with any kind of vegetable, including eggplant, which has a deep affinity with pasta. You can use them as an interesting substitute for capers and sprinkle them on top of foccacia or homemade pizza."

I'm still not sure I actually liked eating fermented black beans. But tasting something new and distinctive can be exhilarating, and I think I want another hit. It's not hard to understand why Anthony Bourdain or even a sensationalist like Andrew Zimmern have devoted careers to seeking out new flavors and textures that fall outside of what most eaters, even many chefs, have encountered. I can't say I'd care to bother with rooster balls or giant flying ants, but on an adventurous eating scale I'm probably about a 7 or 8 --limited less by prejudices; more so by resources and opportunity. Most of us can't drop everything to jet off to Uganda...or even Southern California.

Meanwhile, cauliflower and fermented black bean linguine, cooked and served right here in Western Mass, might be just the thing.

Holiday Advocacy

Carol Blymire is much more eloquent, organized, and effective that I could ever possibly be on this topic, so I'll refrain from making much more of a pitch, other than encourage you to donate to the Food Bank of Western MA, Share Our Strength, and/or any other local food and shelter service organization. We're all experiencing tough times, but our economic problems have put a great strain on these organizations' resources, as they struggle to serve growing numbers of families in need while facing brutal state and federal funding cuts.

Please make every effort you can to support local charities and local businesses this holiday season.

Ummm, is it really December?

Apologies to all who have been reading, if any have been reading! Thanksgiving got a little more elaborate and distracting than I intended, and breaking a small bone in my right hand in the middle of food prep (while completely sober, natch) derailed me for a bit, too.

While I'm in the midst of getting myself together again, check out the following links if you haven't already run across them:

Slate discusses whether takeout can actually be "green."

NY Mag unearths some locavore artifacts from a few wars ago.

And if you're local -- or just interested -- check out the Franklin County Community Development Corporation's Food Processing Center. Some very cool stuff from Pioneer Valley producers is made at this facility, and distributed to our favorite local stores. I am interested in exploring this program a bit more -- if I do, I'll follow up with a post.

More original content will follow, very shortly!