Forgive me, it’s been a crazy few weeks.
The good news is, I’ll have some fun material later this week. Several bloggers and I are working to plan a gathering at Miya’s Sushi tomorrow evening. Haven’t heard of Miya’s? Shame on you. It could be one of the most inventive and exciting sushi restaurants in the entire world.
Stay tuned…
Look at this thing.
Sometimes, you go out to lunch and get served a lobster roll that’s bigger than your head.
I’m not kidding. I wish I had something smaller in the photo to show scale. Like, a regular-sized lobster roll on a hot dog bun.
And I didn’t even have to go to the shoreline. This behemoth is served at Maine Fish Market , a hugely popular seafood restaurant in in East Windsor. The furnishings and decor might be straight out of the ’70s (literally) but the fish is fresh, delicious and plentiful.
The meat was tender and sweet, tossed with just the right amount of cold mayonnaise and a little bit of paprika. No celery, just how I like it. Just a few shreds of lettuce nestled into the bun. Can I even call that a bun? It was more like a full baguette. As it was, I cut the roll in half and ate the lobster meat out of it.
I shared my lobster experience with Facebook friends this afternoon, and thus started the Great Lobster Roll Debate. You see, until I moved to Connecticut, I’d never had a “hot” lobster roll. In the Nutmeg State, restaurants default to these, with the meat bathed in butter and nestled on a toasted roll or bun. The concept was completely foreign to someone who’d grown up eating cold “lobster salad” sandwiches. Mayo, sometimes celery, lettuce – on a split-top hot dog bun.
First comment, from a Connecticut-raised grad school friend: “Panera is now selling lobster roll sandwiches and I rolled my eyes at them because it wasn’t a real lobster roll…It had mayo.”
Second comment, from a Worcester-born Assumption College friend: “A lobster roll without mayo? Fascinating. Sounds tasty.”
Third comment, from a Boston-area raised college friend: “I didn’t know they had lobster rolls without mayo either!”
Now that I’ve had both, I can say they’re equally tasty. The hot version has the butter advantage, enhancing the flavor of the lobster meat and soaking into the bread. (When the meat is gone, it’s like an extra bonus.) But there’s something about the temperature contrast when you’re eating cold lobster salad stuffed into a warm, toasted roll.
I think I’ll have to take the “northern New England” road on this issue, with the conclusion that dude, there really is no bad way to eat lobster. Except maybe the McLobster sandwich.
At the end of last year, Courant rock critic Eric Danton gave me a copy of his 2009 Listen Dammit compilation. On it was perhaps one of the most entertaining songs I’ve ever heard: Das Racist’s “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell,” an ode to the fast-food chains that share store facades.
I missed the first airing of Food Network’s “Worst Cooks In America,” so I caught a rerun last night. I’m not normally a fan of chef-competition shows, surprising as that might seem. I don’t watch “Top Chef” or “Chopped” or “Food Network Star.” But I figured this one might be worth a laugh. And it was – some of the contestants’ dishes were so abysmal that I fancied myself a regular Julia Child in comparison.
Like most of you, I’ll be eating and opening presents more than I’ll be blogging this week, so I wanted to wish you all a very happy holiday.
We started a lively discussion about fruitcake on the Fun With Carbs Facebook page. (Become a fan if you haven’t already!) A divisive topic for sure. The word ‘nutmeats’ was used. And when I posted the same question on Twitter, I immediately received a notification that ‘Fruit Cake’ was now following me.
But perhaps the best Christmas-classic video I’ve seen this season (except for Charlie Brown Christmas, of course) was the above clip from Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Christmas special. (Originally noticed on Eat Me Daily.) This one’s for my 80s friends…
Merry Christmas! What will you be eating and drinking this holiday?
Leeanne Griffin is a freelance writer and food enthusiast.