Foreign Food

One of the reasons that I'm headed to a small island in the Bay of Fundy for vacation this summer is that the locals make the best lobster rolls on the planet. I camped in the provincial campground the last time I was there and there was a spectacular lobster roll shack right outside the park entrance and, at the exchange rate at the time, I was dining well on the cheap. There are a a couple of B&B;'s on the island that have superior kitchens.

The exchange rate isn't so hot this year as the dollar tanks, but this is still an affordable place to stay and I'm renting a cottage this year. I'll do my own cooking from the IGA market on the island and sample the local cuisine as I can. Grand Manan is known as one of the premiere birding destinations on the east coast flyway and I'm going for the birding and whaling., and to just pack a bunch of books and read, hang out and sleep for a couple of weeks.

On my last trip, I took a tour in a 52' two-masted schooner that landed in a pod of Atlantic right whales, where we stayed for hours. The experience changed me profoundly and I want to go back now and check in with that.

Lobster Rolls, New England Style

Lobster Salad:
1/2 pound fully cooked lobster meat or 1 (2 1/2 pound) live lobster
1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
1/4 cup bottled mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon fresh tarragon
2 small scallions, thinly sliced
Kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 to 3 New England-style hot dog buns
2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Pickles and potato chips as accompaniment

Prepare the lobster salad.
If using live lobsters, steam or boil them. Let cool at room temperature. Use a cleaver to crack and remove the meat from the claws, knuckles and tails. Remove the cartilage from the claws and the intestines from the tails of the cooked meat. Cut the meat into 1/2-inch dice. You may pick all the meat from the carcass and add it to the meat or freeze the carcass for soup or broth.

Place the cucumber in a colander for at least 5 minutes to drain the excess liquid. Combine the lobster, cucumber mayonnaise, and tarragon. Add the scallions. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Preheat a large heavy skillet (12 to 14-inches) over medium-low heat (a black cast-iron pan is perfect). Lightly butter both sides of each bun. Place them in the pan and cook for about 2 minutes until golden brown. Turn the buns over and toast the other side. Or toast the buns under a broiler instead. When the buns are ready, stuff them with the chilled lobster salad. Place each roll on a small paper or china plate; garnish with pickles and potato chips. Serve at once.

In New Brunswick, skip the cukes and celery, but add a leaf of butter lettuce, torn finely, to each bun. Those split top New England buns are impossible to find here in the Mid-Atlantic, but you can use a hot dog roll. I do like the addition of the lettuce and can live without the cukes and scallion, the lobstah is front and center in NB. Salt and vinegar chips, please.

I tried to get into the local thing, dulse, a sea weed they export, but it frankly tastes like cardboard. They treat it like chips and toast it in NB.

Also, Kelseigh, if you are reading tonight, I have yet to understand the charms of the donair. I have a great gyro place down the street and your provincial dish is, um, too Canadian tame for me.