Lobsters and langoustines - 6 cooking recipes

This is the most popular seafood delicacy. Lobster dishes are constantly present on the menus of expensive restaurants in Thailand, Bali, the Bahamas and the Caribbean islands. Lobsters are often quite large in size. The length of large individuals can be up to 50 cm, and their weight can be more than three kilograms. And the largest specimen of lobster caught was about a meter long and weighed 11 kilograms! The shell of lobsters is covered with spines, but they do not have claws, they only have long “whiskers.” Lobster recipes for which are quite varied, have become widespread in cooking. Only the tail and belly of the lobster are eaten. It would seem that this is not much, but given the weight of the lobster, it is safe to say that from one individual you can get about a kilogram of tasty and tender meat. Recipes with lobsters recommend baking it with sauce, adding its meat to salads and soups, and grilling it. The stewed lobster in port wine sauce is especially good. If we cook at home, we can surprise everyone by grilling lobster and serving it with butter and basil. Our stores most often sell frozen or canned lobster necks. Moreover, it must be taken into account that the smallest individuals are used for the necks. When transporting fresh lobsters, they are placed in wet wood shavings. They are usually kept in aquariums until they are sold. If the lobsters are left there for too long, their quality will be negatively affected. You can check whether the lobster is really fresh using the “poke method”. If you pick up a lobster, it should strike with its tail. It is necessary to pay attention that its tail must be curled inward. Langoustines, unlike spiny lobsters, have meat only in the tail - their claws are “empty”. Although both are crustaceans, their sizes are different: langoustines are smaller (although this does not mean that dishes made from langoustines are less tasty). The British, however, call these crustaceans Dublin shrimp. You can prepare langoustine deliciously in the same way as regular crayfish: boil in boiling water with salt, then serve.