I've never eaten lobster!

[treacle]

.....Because wherever its been served you had to pick it from a tank. I cant stand the thought that something is alive at the time I decide to have it and then its bumped off just for me.

 

Should I try it though? Is it worth it!

[FitzLA]

Cruise ship lobster is not the best lobster. But if you have never had it, then you won't know the difference. I would try it and see if you like it. If you don't you can always get something else.

[GMoney]

As a good friend of mine says, lobster is the cockroach of the sea.

[treacle]

Dont fancy cockroach either:confused:

[CGTNORMANDIE]

If you want great LOBSTER then go North and eat the hard shell lobster in the spring or the fall. You can find it in Canada and Maine. You will not find it on the average cruise.

[jwlane]

Cruise ship lobster is not the best lobster.

It's actually not lobster, it's lobster tail, a completely different creature from what you see in the tank. What you get onboard has probably been frozen for quite a while.

[Happy ks]

While I have to agree, it's not the best place to try lobster, at least you have the opportunity to order something else if you don't care for it.

 

Does this mean you don't eat poultry, pork, beef or other seafood either? Or are you just sensitive to the moment of death?

[FitzLA]

It's actually not lobster, it's lobster tail, a completely different creature from what you see in the tank. What you get onboard has probably been frozen for quite a while.

 

Lobster tail is just the tail of a Lobster. Not a completely different creature. Just a 1/4 of the creature. And the lobster tail probably has been frozen for a while. I make it a rule never to eat buffet seafood which is essentially what it is.

[jwlane]

Lobster tail is just the tail of a Lobster. Not a completely different creature.

Not true. The creature served onboard (spiny lobster) does not have large claws like the tank lobster in your local Red Lobster. All the "eatin" is in the tail.

[zqvol]

It's actually not lobster, it's lobster tail, a completely different creature from what you see in the tank. What you get on board has probably been frozen for quite a while.

Completely different creature?

 

Spiny lobsters are a different type of lobster than you usually see in the tank at the store, but unless you ask the cooks or see the package you cannot tell which type the ship serves, based on what you get on your plate.

 

No, it is the same creature but you are only served the tail portion, not the claws or the body.

 

Granted cruise ship lobster is not the same as fresh lobster, but you should enjoy it. It has a very unique flavor, to me it is almost sweet, and not like any other fish or meat.

 

Try it the worst case is you don't like it and have to get a different entree.

[Sheffie]

One of the things that I love about cruising is the opportunity to try food that I would not try at a restaurant. I find it great to try things that would be too expensive to order and then not like! I have found that I DO like lobster, lamb, duck, and escargot! I still don't order them at restaurants because they are so darned expensive! As a previous poster stated, if you don't like it you can always get something else.

 

You have nothing to lose! If you don't like it, I bet there is someone else eating with you who would be glad to eat it for you!

[sscruising]

I'm from New England, so I am spoiled when it comes to lobster. However, I still order it on a cruise & just think of it as something new to try. If you like that one-you'll LOVE the "real' thing! But in all honesty, if you want to try the honest to goodness fresh lobster, visit the Northeast & get a boiled one with a little melted butter on the side!:) The one on the ship requires no work, but a boiled one is best eaten outside with a lot of napkins! My mouth is watering & can't wait to have one-we're going out to eat tonight so maybe that's what I'll order.;)

 

Sandi

[Rala]

Just for the sake of academics, my DH who is a marine biologist (masters degree) informs me that the spiny lobster is a different creature than the northern (with claws) lobster. He says it is a completely different genus. The spiny lobster is related to the northern lobster in the same way that crabs and shrimp are. They are all arthropods. Ok, I'm sure some of you are saying who cares, but I just thought a little information couldn't hurt!!??

 

Oh, and I agree that the lobster on the ship is not spectacular, but as another poster said, if you drench it with enough drawn butter and a little lemon, it's not bad!

 

Happy cruising to all!

[rfische1]

Okay, living in Maine I had to respond to this. Though I am not a huge lobstah eatah, I still enjoy them once in a while. I see lobster traps (empty of course) in yards and being hauled in trucks all the time. Anyway, my point is that the claw meet is the most tender and sweetest part of a Maine lobster. Cracking open a lobster by the shore is major part of the experience of eating one. A little bit of history here. When the first Europeans landed here, lobsters were so plentiful that they were considered trash food and fed to the servants.

[hawkfish]

Treacle -

 

You posted before about prawns -- lobster meat itself is most comparable to prawns. It's not flaky, like most fish, but meaty and slightly sweet, like prawns. Not at all fishy or sea-like.

 

I'm with everyone else -- this sounds like the perfect opportunity to try it. If you don't like it, you can get something else. And if you do like it, you can look forward to better/fresher lobsters in your future.

 

And for what it's worth, lobsters neurological systems are so primative that they are incapable of feeling/sensing pain. That's a characteristic that humans project onto them. But I guess I can understand not wanting to see the thing you are about to eat wriggling around 20 minutes earlier. :)

 

BTW -- I've been meaning to ask you, in what part of the UK are you located? I used to work on a farm in Dorset, so I guess that where I got over any issues I might have had with meat/produce. :)

[jwlane]

but unless you ask the cooks or see the package you cannot tell which type the ship

No need to do either, the ship is serving lobster tail. Check the menu that night. It's even advertised as such.

 

Thank you Rala for providing your additional insight on this. Panulirus interruptus (what you get on a cruise) and Homarus americanus (what you get in the tank at Red Lobster) are not the same.

 

An interesting aside is that Whole Foods announced yesterday they are discontinuing selling live lobster in their markets.

[sscruising]

One thing I forgot to mention & this is something we do all the time, we order something we feel we are going to like & then ask for just the mest, fish etc. as a side. We don't order the potatoes & veggies with whatever we want to try.

I also remember when there was a time that lobster was the "poor man's" meal. I heard people would draw their shades closed so that no one would peek in & see them eating it!

 

Sandi

[KarinaGW]

And for what it's worth, lobsters neurological systems are so primative that they are incapable of feeling/sensing pain. That's a characteristic that humans project onto them. But I guess I can understand not wanting to see the thing you are about to eat wriggling around 20 minutes earlier. :)

 

My problem with lobster was the very first recipe I ever read for them. In which it said to place the live lobster in the pot of boiling water and that it "might be necessary to hold down the lid for a few minutes". It took me a really really long time to eat it after that and I will NOT pick my own....but I do love it, although I like crab meat better.

[flvol77]

I live in Fl and 99% of the lobster served on the ships that leave from ports in fl is Fl or Caribbean Lobster

 

I don't really like either, and I love seafood, but if I had to eat one or the other it would be maine lobster.

 

Now my father in law dives and we always have fl lobster....But give me a nice chunk of dolphin/mahi/dorado over lobster anyday and I am a happy...

[Rala]

Another lobster factoid...the early colonists as mentioned before had no use for lobster and used it as fertilizer in their gardens and fields!!!! YIKES!

[flvol77]

My problem with lobster was the very first recipe I ever read for them. In which it said to place the live lobster in the pot of boiling water and that it "might be necessary to hold down the lid for a few minutes". It took me a really really long time to eat it after that and I will NOT pick my own....but I do love it, although I like crab meat better.

 

 

I know a local chef and he puts the lobster in the freezer first...He said that it doesn't kill the lobster but it slowly puts the lobster in shock and when you but it in boiling water the lobster doesn't feel as much (he says it a more humane way of cooking the lobster) oh and I just heard the same thing on the food network with bobby flay

[Nliedel]

Cruise ships lobstger *is* lobster tails unless you are on a Premium line like Silversea, Crystal or Seabourn (I may be missing one, but I took a long nap and I'm foggy. Thank you Saturday).

 

They will be presented in their shell with drawn butter and some lemon. I like to be non PC and squeeze the lemon into the butter, but don't do that. Just squirt some lemon on the lobster and then dip the portions in the butter (lobster is low cal, butter... not so much).

 

If getting the bugger out of the shell, which it's barely in at this point, bothers you or confuddles you please ask your server to do it. It can be a tad messy and you can plead being murdered by your spouse should you get butter on your clothes. They do it all the time and won't even blink at you.

 

Then you can cut it into small bites to enjoy. I'm not a huge fan of cruise ship lobster. The large Maine variety are wondeful and delicious, but I still eat some on lobster night. You can ask for a lobster tail and a small side of another entree if you are not sure about the lobster. You will not be looked upon as a pig at all.

[sscruising]

That's true about putting them in the freezer-it works. The most important thing to do though is make sure your water is really boiling hard & put them in head first. And make sure the pot is very big!

When did the boards become a cooking show?

[rfische1]

Another lobster factoid...the early colonists as mentioned before had no use for lobster and used it as fertilizer in their gardens and fields!!!! YIKES!

And the shells are used in compost that is sold commercially.

 

On a personal note, my son in his elementary school years always liked to meet his dinner before it was boiled or steamed. Today in his teens he is a sensitive and kind young man.LOL

[scher]

FYI Lobster Tail

 

Some people are very ignorant! Lobster tail is not normally Maine Lobster( the only good Lobster) Lobster Tail is normally Spiny Lobster which to me is much less superior to Maine Lobster. Unless otherwise stated Lobster tail is not just the tail of a lobster that the majority of people are talking about when they say they like lobster. I adore Maine Lobster I hate Lobster tail.