I tried a lobster roll for the first time last year and I’m mostly disappointed. Every single place sold them for around 40 to 50 USD. It was just buttered lobster which is good but for the amount I got, it was definitely not worth, and honestly I’d rather have bread on the side than as a roll
The popularity of lobster rolls mostly comes from a time, not so long ago, when eating lobster and shrimp was on about the same level as eating crickets. People in the Northeast would catch them for export. Poor kids brought lobster rolls to school, rich kids brought baloney sandwiches or Oscar Mayer hot dogs. Eventually, people decided lobster was a “luxury” food so now you get these tiny little lobster rolls for absurb prices. Hard to understand how they’d attract any new fans today.
We did make improvements since then, like dousing in butter and cooking only to a delicate texture instead of pencil erasers. If you had the old fashioned style you’d be grossed out too.
I might be biased but Asian style of lobster is amazing. My favorite is salted egg yolk lobster (I think also literally translated as golden sand or smth)
I’ve had a good one before. They’re rare AF. Most places just seem to throw some overcooked butter-drenched lobster claw meat on a Pepperidge Farm top split and call it a day. You need to go somewhere with an actual chef to get one properly executed. (or maybe an ancient Northeastern grandmother)
Lobster salad, no huge chunks, relatively dry, properly salted, moderately spiced. A Top-split roll that’s soft on the outside and crunchy butter-fried on the inside.
Even at their best, you won’t cry for it when it’s gone. It’ll just be a “that was good” and a nice solemn happiness that you ate it.
I’ve had a few but would never pay that much. Especially after having one from McDonald’s in Maine awhile ago for like $10 that tasted exactly the same. I check every time I’m up there and it’s never been available again
In all fairness. I was in Boston (and in the seaport area) when I first tried it, so I’m sure it could’ve been cheaper. But this definitely isn’t a food that gets better the more you pay for it.
The Iowa State Fair is doing them for $100, includes gold leaf for some reason, add caviar and Dom and it’s $800.
Just to point out Iowa wasn’t nearly this stupid when I grew up there in the 80s, they were actually fairly progressive and tech-forward for a while, wish a dash of country polite.
I’ve never had lobster roll - or indeed lobster - but from the name I imagined it to be lobster rolled up in something like a pig in a blanket (though I’ve heard that varies from place to place as well; my variant is just a hot dog rolled up in a croissant).
I was pretty disappointed the first time someone around me ordered one and it was just lobster in a roll … Though I admit it makes sense.
A hot dog in a croissant? That’s wild, I didn’t realise pigs in blankets were different around the world (presumably you’re not in the UK?). In England, pigs in blankets are little sausages wrapped in bacon!
Precook? The bacon and sausages just need to be thin enough, ie. pancetta sliced and chipolata, respectively. Possibly better roasted so they don’t need to be turned (they may unravel).
Traditionally, short chipolatas are used, sometimes referred to as cocktail sausages, although this can also refer to cold, precooked sausages of the same size.
great bacon requires time and 400+ f temps, and a watchful eye - flipping helps too.
then you can refrigerate it and use it for a week on baked potatoes, pigs in blankets, bacon bits for salad, bacon chunks for soups like potato soup and chowders.
it’s gonna kill me, but goddamn is good bacon worth it.
I tried a lobster roll for the first time last year and I’m mostly disappointed. Every single place sold them for around 40 to 50 USD. It was just buttered lobster which is good but for the amount I got, it was definitely not worth, and honestly I’d rather have bread on the side than as a roll
The popularity of lobster rolls mostly comes from a time, not so long ago, when eating lobster and shrimp was on about the same level as eating crickets. People in the Northeast would catch them for export. Poor kids brought lobster rolls to school, rich kids brought baloney sandwiches or Oscar Mayer hot dogs. Eventually, people decided lobster was a “luxury” food so now you get these tiny little lobster rolls for absurb prices. Hard to understand how they’d attract any new fans today.
Presumably the supply of lobster is now much lower than the demand.
We did make improvements since then, like dousing in butter and cooking only to a delicate texture instead of pencil erasers. If you had the old fashioned style you’d be grossed out too.
I might be biased but Asian style of lobster is amazing. My favorite is salted egg yolk lobster (I think also literally translated as golden sand or smth)
lobster rolls are good only if you think “man these would be awesome if it werent $60 for a meal”
I’ve had a good one before. They’re rare AF. Most places just seem to throw some overcooked butter-drenched lobster claw meat on a Pepperidge Farm top split and call it a day. You need to go somewhere with an actual chef to get one properly executed. (or maybe an ancient Northeastern grandmother)
Lobster salad, no huge chunks, relatively dry, properly salted, moderately spiced. A Top-split roll that’s soft on the outside and crunchy butter-fried on the inside.
Even at their best, you won’t cry for it when it’s gone. It’ll just be a “that was good” and a nice solemn happiness that you ate it.
I’ve had a few but would never pay that much. Especially after having one from McDonald’s in Maine awhile ago for like $10 that tasted exactly the same. I check every time I’m up there and it’s never been available again
40-50 smackers is an unreasonable price for lobster roll. I also wouldn’t be impressed for that price.
In all fairness. I was in Boston (and in the seaport area) when I first tried it, so I’m sure it could’ve been cheaper. But this definitely isn’t a food that gets better the more you pay for it.
The Iowa State Fair is doing them for $100, includes gold leaf for some reason, add caviar and Dom and it’s $800.
Just to point out Iowa wasn’t nearly this stupid when I grew up there in the 80s, they were actually fairly progressive and tech-forward for a while, wish a dash of country polite.
I wouldn’t even eat lobster in Iowa, let alone pay that much for it. Where do people think the lobster is coming from?
I’ve never had lobster roll - or indeed lobster - but from the name I imagined it to be lobster rolled up in something like a pig in a blanket (though I’ve heard that varies from place to place as well; my variant is just a hot dog rolled up in a croissant).
I was pretty disappointed the first time someone around me ordered one and it was just lobster in a roll … Though I admit it makes sense.
A hot dog in a croissant? That’s wild, I didn’t realise pigs in blankets were different around the world (presumably you’re not in the UK?). In England, pigs in blankets are little sausages wrapped in bacon!
No, I’m not in the UK.
What you describe is delicious, too, but I’m not aware of a colloquialism that describes it.
What I’m accustomed to by that name is a less fancy looking version of this:
Oh wow, that’s totally not what I was picturing actually! What are the seeds? Is the croissant sweet?
I don’t put seeds on mine, but they seem like sesame seeds. What were you picturing?
The rolls are:
https://www.pillsbury.com/products/crescents/original
I wouldn’t call them sweet, but from what I understand the UK and US have very different definitions of that taste, so you might.
edit: That might actually just be salt. Pretty sure it’s sesame though.
I was picturing, like, a French croissant, a big pastry thing, with a Cumberland sausage inside 😂 I’ve never heard of Pillsbury, looks good tho!
Yeah you’re right, those seeds look like sesame
we used to do pigs wrapped in bacon in a blanket. pretty freaking good but you have to precook the bacon.
Precook? The bacon and sausages just need to be thin enough, ie. pancetta sliced and chipolata, respectively. Possibly better roasted so they don’t need to be turned (they may unravel).
Traditionally, short chipolatas are used, sometimes referred to as cocktail sausages, although this can also refer to cold, precooked sausages of the same size.
Yeah, I’ve tried to do that on my grill without precooking. Never got it to work.
great bacon requires time and 400+ f temps, and a watchful eye - flipping helps too.
then you can refrigerate it and use it for a week on baked potatoes, pigs in blankets, bacon bits for salad, bacon chunks for soups like potato soup and chowders.
it’s gonna kill me, but goddamn is good bacon worth it.