ADVENTURE TO BE
There is one thing I have never had a clear opportunity to enjoy and the idea has been nibbling away at the edge of my mind all morning.
I have never consumed a lobster in proper style. I have enjoyed parts and pieces of lobster, of course, on platter's with fish-finder names but I've never hooked on to enough courage to order a whole one and some guidance about the p;roper use of the tongs, hammers and the other tools that go with the proper consumption of the edible portions of such a sterling treat from the sea.
The bits and pieces I have met with on the “Fisherman's Platter” or “Seafarers Delight”have held promise of enjoyment and I have to confess that it has been the the matter of the proper style of doing it all correctly, which has stopped me. I have long viewed such a gastronomical event as being the ultimate in enjoyment but that the need to do it properly was important, too.
I confess that I do not know the proper etiquette for doing away with a whole lobster. If and when I ever get to visit the State of Maine - it has always been Maine where they eat lobster the way it should eaten and still be socially acceptable. There are ways to go about using those mallets, tongs and tweezers properly but the style books don't spell it out for me i everyday landlubber's lingo. I do not wish to resemble Henry VIII working on a leg of beef in some of the older historic films. I'd like to be able to think that it was all even more worth doing because it was done in proper style and with class morsel upon morsel
I remember so well, eating Blue Crab from Chesapeake Bay, at the home of Buzz and Virgina Conway, Indian River Inlet near Warnock's, Virginia. Hat was a real treat unequaled by any fine restaurant more than I though possible. I feel that has fully qualified me to take on any Maine lobster in its entirety when and if, that special occasion ever comes about.,
In these days of so many television shows dueling with what they call “reality” maybe I had best modify my plans and visit the local “Red Lobster” restaurant. Maybe I could get a private room, or , at least , a curtained area, and sort of ad-lib a lobster ceremony for whatever time it takes to do so and still retain my dream of what a perfect lobster dinner could be.
I'd settle for that, Dream things seldom work out too well, anyway..
A.L.M. April 14, 2004 [c505wds]
