Lobster Americaine Recipe (also known as Lobster Armoricaine)
The name of this classic lobster recipe has puzzled generations. With its buttery sauce it seems to be a French (or French-inspired) recipe, and hence it's been suggested that the name should be 'Armoricaine' (rather than the more commonly used 'Americaine') meaning from Brittany.
Nice as it is, this idea doesn't work - the ingredients are clearly from the South of France rather than the windswept, rugged North-West, and at any rate the recipe is far too luxurious for the relatively modest style of Breton cuisine.
Whatever its origins, this is one of the most delicious of the traditional lobster recipes.
This recipe serves 4.
Ingredients
1 largish lobster prepared as below, or two small ones
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 chopped onion
3/4 lb tomatoes (350 g), peeled and quartered
1 clove garlic, crushed
a little tomato puree
a little sugar
chopped parsley and tarragon
1/4 pint/5 fl oz (150 ml) dry white wine
1/4 pint/5 fl oz (150 ml) beef or fish stock
1 glass brandy
1 oz/25 g butter
1 teaspoon flour
salt and pepper
Preparation
The idea with this recipe is to cut the lobster up while it's still alive and start cooking it immediately, in order for it to be at its very freshest and best.
Most people don't fancy this (although in fact it may not be as awful as it seems, as the first decisive cut between the tail and the head is enough to kill the lobster instantly).
Luckily there's a much less daunting way to get the cut-up lobster in the pan, and that's first to par-boil the lobster (having first chilled it into unconsciousness as explained here).
Be sure not to go over two minutes boiling time - the whole point of the recipe is to preserve the flavour, and cook the lobster in the pan from as raw as possible.
When you've taken the lobster out of its par-boiling water, you need to cut it as follows: take the large claws from the body and crack them. Cut the tail away from the head. Cut the tail into several sections across its width. Cut the head in half, take out the gritty part which is the stomach sac, and remove what you can of the intestine, which runs down the tail.
If the lobster is a female, remove the coral (the eggs will be black at this stage and not coral-coloured; they go that colour on cooking) and put to one side.
Having prepared the lobster as explained above, heat the oil in a large pan and cook the pieces of lobster in the pan for about five minutes. Remove the lobster from the pan after this time.
Put the onion in the pan and cook until wilted, then add the tomatoes, the garlic and the herbs, and when the mixture begins to bubble, add the wine, the stock and the brandy.
Taste the sauce, and add salt and pepper, and as much tomato puree and sugar as you think necessary - if it's sharpish, add small amounts of sugar, stir and taste again.
Put the lobster back in the pan, when the sauce is to your liking, and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes.
Mash the lobster eggs (if the lobster was female) with the butter and the flour while this is happening.
When the lobster is cooked, take it out, arrange on a hot serving dish and cover to keep warm.
Reduce the sauce by boiling until the flavour is right, then add the coral butter a little at a time. Let the sauce simmer, then seive over the hot lobster pieces.
Lobster Americaine is traditionally served with a pilaff of rice.
Chef's Tip
In some versions of this famous recipe, the brandy is poured over the lobster in the pan after it has had its first five minutes of cooking and flambe'd (or simply boiled off).
The lobster is then taken out and the rest of the recipe continues as explained to the left.
There are also versions which require the cook to remove the lobster meat from the shell and cook it with the tomato mixture. The mixture is then put back into the (cleaned) shells, topped with breadcrumbs and baked in a medium/hot oven for ten minutes.
This can equally be done with individual small serving dishes or ramekins, rather than the shells, for a more "restaurant" feel - although it does seem a pity to discard the attractive red shells.
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