Interstate Eats and Adventures

I was in the Maritimes for less than a week when I realized my entire family would be disappointed in me. I have not yet celebrated this good time with a meal that includes the legendary lobsters fished off of Prince Edward Island. Since I can remember, lobster meant “good times” in my family. Every time we had lobster it signified a celebration even if it was a just a regular Saturday night.

Good times started with my grand parents bringing lobsters and steamers to our house on Temple Drive in Methuen Massachusetts. This was sometime in the 1970’s. My grandfather gave up one or two of his cans of Lite beer to use as cooking liquid for the clams. He also added thick slices of onion to the beer broth which enhanced the flavor of the clams and gave the broth a deep flavor that was more savory than clammy. My grandparents would always say it’s okay to sip the broth. It was delicious because it was made with such care.

You couldn’t have a better person at the helm for cooking the lobsters than my grandfather. He was very specific about the water boiling and how long to cook these crustaceans. If you got in his way or provided even a suggestion of deviation from the process, he would get grumpy so we let him do his magic. This allowed my mom and grandmother to arrange the table, melt the butter, and make sure all of us were seated so the food was hot when it was eaten.

I grew up with many more of these “good times”. I even went through a rebellious phase when I decided I did not like lobster and insisted that my mother get me tuna and pickles instead. Fortunately for all of us, I have grown out of those teenage years. My grandparents made lobster dinners at all the other houses I have ever lived in and during all the phases in my life.

Lobsters are legendary on Prince Edward Island and a way of life. This is evident in the number of fishing villages and vessels. It is almost October and lobsters are in abundant supply. While I have no intention of cooking lobster at a campsite, I am game for eating lobster at a restaurant or fish market.

My grandfather is deceased but my grandmother is still with us and I am sure she would be proud to know that I finally did get lobster at a fish market in Summerside, PEI on our way to Cavendish National Park. The lobster was served on a generous sized hotdog roll. Mayonnaise was layered at the bottom of the roll. Then a little bit of iceberg-style lettuce. The lobster was lightly coated in clarified butter. There was so much lobster on the roll that we had to start with a fork. The lobster was neither cold nor warm and this room temperature added to the flavor explosion. This was the kind of lobster roll where you could taste the lobster and the rest of the ingredients facilitated. We had a scoop of potato salad that was made with PEI new potatoes which are as famous as their lobsters. All this satisfied my hunger and my duty to carry on the “good times”!