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[Tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>]

I used to catch, process and ship to the U.S. a lot of Spiny Lobster.  I 
hasten to add that neither the South American Spiny Lobster, nor the 
Maine clawed lobster are my favorite crustaceans---that has to be 
reserved for the giant shrimp (Langostinos) caught in Galapagos waters, 
and in the very cold, highly-oxygenated current flowing northwards along 
the Ecuadorean Coast.
Langostinos are so expensive and rare a delicacy that you seldom see 
them on the menue outside of fancy New York hotels.


What a catch!
* Spiny lobster is a local treasure begging to be discovered. With butter.


                        
Photos

Look Ma, no claws 
<http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-lobster_i5le69kf,1,6710193.photo?coll=la-home-food>
Look Ma, no claws 
<http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-lobster_i5le69kf,1,6710193.photo?coll=la-home-food> 

(Carlos Chavez / LAT)
Delicacy 
<http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-lobster_i5lhnhkf,1,7614000.photo?coll=la-home-food>
Delicacy 
<http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-lobster_i5lhnhkf,1,7614000.photo?coll=la-home-food> 

(Carlos Chavez / LAT)
 Times Headlines


What a catch! 
<http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-calcook20oct20,1,2466367.story?coll=la-headlines-food>

Time for a kitchen tuneup 
<http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-kitchen20oct20,1,6000720.story?coll=la-headlines-food>

> From small seeds, inspiration 
<http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-pinenutsoct20,1,1008584.story?coll=la-headlines-food>

The power of three 
<http://www.latimes.com/features/food/cl-fo-review20oct20,1,4841751.story?coll=la-headlines-food>

All smoke and swagger? 
<http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-watch20oct20,1,7432094.story?coll=la-headlines-food>

more > <http://www.latimes.com/features/food/>

	 
 			

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By Russ Parsons, Times Staff Writer

LOBSTER is the very essence of luxury, one of the most sought-after 
foods in the world. Maine lobsters, with their giant sweet claws, are to 
many people the epitome of deliciousness. But we have something every 
bit as amazing swimming around right off our own shores, just waiting to 
be eaten.

Right now, with the commercial Southern California spiny lobster season 
at its peak, it is time to give the unsung local heroes their due -- 
preferably after a judicious grilling, and well slathered in herbed butter.

Spiny lobsters have a little firmer texture than Maine lobsters and a 
fuller, more complex flavor. And they are highly seasonal. The 
commercial harvest begins the first Wednesday of October, and though it 
lasts through mid-May, most of the catch occurs this month.

"People who know about them started coming in like a month ago asking 
'When will spiny season start?' " says chef Allyson Thurber, who is 
serving about 200 a day prepared just that way at the aptly named 
Lobster restaurant at the Santa Monica Pier.

Local spiny lobsters, found from Santa Barbara to the Gulf of Mexico, 
have to be one of the most underappreciated foods around. It is the rare 
and discerning chef who finds a place for them on the menu, and you may 
have to search a little to find a market that stocks them.

When the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce throws its annual Lobster 
Festival every September, it's Maine lobster they serve, frozen and 
flown in from the East Coast. (Granted, it is hard to imagine spinys 
taking much offense at all this. They probably spend the festival 
weekend gathering in the eelgrass, chuckling among themselves -- spiny 
lobsters, biologists tell us, are "sociable and gregarious.")

There are many types of spiny lobsters in the world; for the most part 
they differ only slightly. The one we get is /Panulirus interruptus. 
/Probably the best known in this country is the one from Florida (/P. 
argus/), which is smaller than the Californian (and usually sold 
frozen). There are also other spinys found farther down the Mexican 
coast. One particularly sought-after variety (/P. inflatus/) is commonly 
called the "blue bug" because of its distinctive coloring. The European 
spiny (/P. //elephas/) is another relative.

The most noticeable difference between spiny lobsters and their East 
Coast cousins (/Homarus americanus/) is that spinys lack big front 
claws. You eat only the tail -- they're more like giant shrimp.

That tail is bigger and much more muscular than homarus'. Whereas the 
East Coast lobster's preferred mode of escape from threats is crawling, 
spinys flex their tails to swim very quickly backward. When in danger, 
they also like to burrow into rocky crevices, using their tails to lock 
themselves in and waving their long, barbed antennae for defense.

Former Water Grill chef Michael Cimarusti, whose next restaurant, 
Providence, will also focus on top-quality seafood, says these antennae 
can be every bit as dangerous as claws -- especially to the unwary.

"We'd get these 11-pounders and we'd always send the rookies to get them 
out of the tank," Cimarusti says. "They don't have claws, but they do 
have really sharp barbs on their antennae and they wave those back and 
forth. They will really tear you up if you're not careful. And their 
tail is so strong, they'll just clamp down on the bottom of the tank. If 
you don't surprise them, it can seem almost impossible to pull them out."



*A headstrong tail

*That powerful tail is the focus of a lot of attention when it comes to 
cooking. It must be prepared carefully to avoid toughening the muscle.

"It's very easy to blow the texture on these things," Cimarusti says. 
"If you undercook it, so the flesh is too translucent, the texture will 
be gummy. If you overcook it, it will be too chewy. It's very difficult 
to get it exactly right."

If you're going to boil them, Cimarusti recommends maintaining the water 
at a bare simmer rather than a rolling boil. "That's incredibly 
important," he says.

Thurber goes so far as to say spinys should never be boiled at all. "We 
only grill them," she says. "And we only cook them to about medium-rare. 
That way they're beautiful; the meat pulls right out of the shell."

The lobster is done, she says, when you can see the meat turn from 
translucent to nearly opaque, but with a trace of shiny translucence 
left. You can also judge by the springiness of the flesh when you press 
it, but that takes some practice.

Cimarusti says, "The best indicator is to watch the little bit of juice 
that comes out around the tail. When it starts to bubble up, the lobster 
is done."

The French Laundry's Thomas Keller, whose butter-poaching technique for 
homarus lobsters has been copied by chefs all over the world, says that 
because of the low heat involved, that technique is ideally suited for 
spinys, which he calls by their French name, /langouste/.



*Using a soft touch

*Butter poaching begins by covering the lobsters with boiling water and 
then letting them sit off the heat for a few minutes, just long enough 
that the meat separates from the shell so it can be removed easily 
(spinys take a little longer than homarus). Then he finishes the cooking 
on top of the stove in a massive amount of butter that is heated to no 
more than about 190 degrees. This way the flesh is never exposed to high 
heat and stays tender and silky.

Keller learned to cook spinys in the Florida country clubs where he 
started out. "Surf and turf was a very big deal," he says, adding that 
the difference in texture between spiny and homarus lobster is 
comparable to that between New York strip steak and filet mignon. "It 
has just a little more character."

Mainly, he says, the most important thing is making sure you're getting 
good quality, live spiny lobsters. Because of the difficulty finding 
these in Northern California, he serves spinys only a couple of times a 
year.

"/Langoustes /are a lot more fragile [than homarus]," he says. "It's a 
lot more difficult to find them alive. A really beautiful /langouste /is 
much rarer than a lobster because it has a much shorter shelf life."

This is one place Southern California cooks have a definite advantage. 
The spinys we're getting now are taken right off our coast, between 
Point Conception just northwest of Santa Barbara and Magdalena Bay in 
Baja California.

The spiny lobster fishery is regarded as one of the best regulated and 
most sustainable in the country. Southern California fishermen catch 
about 700,000 pounds every year, an amount that has remained relatively 
stable for the last 30 years. Only 246 fishermen are licensed to take 
spinys and the commercial season is timed to coincide with the period 
the lobsters are moving to deeper waters and are not breeding (the 
recreational season, open only to skin divers who must catch them by 
hand, begins a week earlier). The minimum catch size ensures that all 
lobsters taken have had at least one breeding cycle, and traps have been 
designed to allow immature lobsters to escape.

The best place to find live spinys is at specialty fish markets such as 
Quality Seafood at the Redondo Pier, Malibu Seafood north of Pepperdine 
University, Fish King in Glendale and Los Angeles Fish Co. downtown. 
Santa Monica Seafood will sell spinys if you give them a day's notice. 
Other stores carry local spiny lobsters that have already been cooked. 
Buy the ones with the whitest, shiniest flesh, which should be in a 
solid piece rather than overly flaky. Because the harvest is so limited, 
and because the lobsters are kept alive, which requires special 
equipment, prices tend to be a little on the high side, around $15 a pound.

Thurber says you'll know a good spiny when you see it. "These guys are 
feisty and fierce," she says. "When they come in to the kitchen, they're 
just flipping and flopping all over the place. Look for a lot of good 
action from them and a lot of good tail movement. The majority of the 
time, they've been out of the water only a couple of hours."

The result is delicious eating. Thurber describes the local spiny as 
being "a little more firm" than homarus. "I don't want to say chewy, but 
a little more firm." And the sweetness of the Maine lobster is replaced 
by a slightly different flavor. "Compared to the spiny, I think the 
Maine lobster is a little bland," she says. "The spiny lobster has a 
more full flavor. It definitely tastes like it comes from the ocean."

Thurber warns, however, that all of her opinions should be taken with a 
grain of salt. Because the chef at Lobster is allergic to lobster, she 
must rely on other people's judgments. She's never actually tasted a 
spiny herself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
/Russ Parsons can be reached at russ.parsons AT latimes.com.

/*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Where to buy

live spiny lobsters

*Quality Seafood: *130 S. International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach, (310) 
374-2382

*Malibu Seafood: *25653 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, (310) 456-3430

*Los Angeles Fish Co.: *420 Stanford Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 629-1213

*Santa Monica Seafood: *1205 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 
393-5244; 424 S. Main St. Unit F, Orange, (714) 456-0234; 154 E. 17th 
St., Costa Mesa, (949) 574-0274

*Fish King: *722 N. Glendale Ave., Glendale, (818) 244-2161

*

Grilled Pacific spiny lobster

*Total time: *45 minutes

*Servings: *4

*Note: *From Allyson Thurber at the Lobster restaurant in Santa Monica

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, divided

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon chopped garlic plus 4 tablespoons chopped garlic

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon combined chopped fresh herbs (such as 
Italian parsley, basil, thyme, tarragon and rosemary), divided

Salt and pepper

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 (1 1/2 pound) spiny lobsters

*1. Clarify 1 cup of butter *by melting it in a saucepan over low heat. 
Skim off the foam and pour off the butter, discarding any milky water on 
the bottom. Add the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon garlic, 1 teaspoon fresh 
herbs and one-eighth teaspoon salt. Keep warm.

*2. Combine the olive oil *and remaining 4 tablespoons garlic and set aside.

*3. Heat the oven *to 450 degrees. Heat the grill to high.

*4. Split the lobsters *down the back from head to tail, leaving 
underneath still attached, to butterfly. Clean all intestines and matter 
from the head and rinse lightly under cool water. Brush the lobster meat 
lightly with olive oil and garlic and reserve the rest of the oil. 
Season with salt and pepper.

*5. Place the lobsters, *meat side down, on the hot grill for about 5 
minutes, rotating halfway through to make crisscross markings.

*6. Remove the lobsters *from the grill and place on a sheet pan, meat 
side up. Brush again with a little oil and garlic and sprinkle each with 
one-half tablespoon herbs.

*7. Cut the remaining *two sticks of butter into tablespoon-size pieces 
and divide evenly over the 4 lobsters. Bake the lobsters in the oven 
until the centers are no longer translucent and they are cooked through, 
about 7 to 10 minutes. Serve with the clarified butter mixture.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
/ *Each serving: *1,029 calories; 63 grams protein; 11 grams 
carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 80 grams fat; 41 grams saturated fat; 375 mg. 
cholesterol; 614 mg. sodium.

/*

Butter-poached lobster with creamy lobster broth and orzo

*Total time: *1 hour, 20 minutes plus about 4 hours simmering and 
reducing time

*Servings: *6

*Note: *This is one of Thomas Keller's most famous dishes, adapted from 
his "The French Laundry Cookbook." Although it looks complicated, it is 
really quite simple to prepare if the cooking is spread over two days.

*Lobsters*

3 (1 1/2 pound) spiny lobsters

White distilled vinegar

*1. Place the lobsters *in a tight-fitting pot. Cover with cold water. 
Drain off the water and measure it. For every 8 quarts of water, add 
one-half cup of white distilled vinegar.

*2. In a separate large pot, *bring the vinegar water to a boil. Pour it 
over the lobsters. Cover the pot, turn off the heat and let steep 2 
minutes (for lobsters up to 1 1/2 pounds). Remove the lobsters from the 
hot water and drain. Discard the water.

*3. One at a time, *using a towel or rubber gloves to hold the hot 
lobsters, grasp their tails and twist and pull to detach them. Reserve 
the bodies. Hold each tail flat and twist the tail fan to one side: pull 
off and discard. Use your fingers to gently push the meat through the 
tail end and pull the meat out through the large opening at the other 
end. Reserve the shell. Lay the tail meat on its back and cut lengthwise 
in half. Remove the vein running through the top of the meat. Place the 
meat on a paper towel-lined plate or platter, cover with plastic wrap 
and refrigerate.

*Lobster broth*

1/4 cup canola oil

3 spiny lobster body and tail shells, cut into 3-inch pieces

1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes (about 3 small tomatoes)

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1 large bunch tarragon

Water

2 cups heavy cream

*1. Heat the oil *in a large, deep-sided pot. Add the lobster shell 
pieces and sear over medium-high heat until they turn red, 1 to 2 
minutes per side (if your pot is not big enough to hold all the shells, 
sear them in 2 batches).

*2. Add the tomatoes, *carrots and tarragon, cover the shells and 
vegetables with water, and bring to a boil. Skim off any impurities that 
rise to the top. Reduce the heat and simmer over low heat for 1 hour. 
Strain the stock through a large strainer, smashing the shells with a 
wooden spoon to extract all the liquid, and then strain again into a 
clean saucepan.

*3. Return the strained stock *to the stove and simmer until it is 
reduced to 1 cup. (This may take 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on the 
amount of water added initially.) Add the heavy cream, return to a 
simmer, and cook, skimming occasionally, until the broth is reduced to 1 
1/4 cups, about 1 hour. Strain through a fine strainer into a container, 
discarding any solids remaining in the strainer. Cover and refrigerate 
the broth for several hours or up to 3 days.

*Parmesan crisps*

1/4 cup finely grated

Parmigiano-Reggiano

*1. Heat the oven *to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicon 
nonstick liner. Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of the cheese on the liner. 
Use your fingers to spread the cheese into a 2-inch circle. Repeat with 
the remaining cheese to make 6 rounds. Bake until golden brown, 8 to 10 
minutes. Use a small spatula to transfer the rounds to paper towels. 
They will still be soft when they are removed but will stiffen as they 
cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

*Assembly*

Reserved meat of 3 lobsters

1 1/4 cups lobster broth (1 recipe)

1/2 cup orzo

2 tablespoons mascarpone

Salt

1 1/2 cups butter

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon minced chives

6 Parmesan crisps

*1. If the lobster pieces *have been refrigerated, bring them to room 
temperature.

*2. Place the lobster broth *in a saucepan and bring it to a simmer.

*3. Cook the orzo *in boiling, lightly salted water until just tender. 
Drain the cooked pasta in a strainer and rinse under cold water. Shake 
the strainer to remove excess water and add the orzo to the lobster broth.

*4. Heat the orzo *and lobster broth to a simmer. Add the mascarpone and 
season with salt to taste. Let simmer for a minute, then remove the pan 
from the heat and keep warm.

*5. Melt the butter *in a large saucepan and whisk in 1 tablespoon of 
water. Arrange the lobster pieces in the saucepan in one layer; the 
lobster should almost be covered. Heat gently on low heat to warm the 
lobster through, about 8 minutes. Do not let the butter take on any color.

*6. Stir the chives *into the orzo. Place about one-third cup of orzo in 
the center of a serving plate. Arrange a piece of lobster in the center 
of the orzo and top each serving with a Parmesan crisp.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
/*Each serving: *587 calories; 11 grams protein; 15 grams carbohydrates; 
0 fiber; 55 grams fat; 28 grams saturated fat; 169 mg. cholesterol; 195 
mg. sodium.

/*

Lobster salad with fennel and radishes

*Total time: *15 minutes

*Servings: *4

*Note: *When cooked in advance, spiny lobster tails frequently develop 
black staining on the surface where the tail attaches to the body. Just 
trim it away; it does not affect the flavor.

2 bulbs fennel

1 (8-ounce) bunch red radishes

2/3 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons capers

1 1/2 tablespoons minced chives, plus 1 teaspoon for garnish

1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

2 ( 1/2 -pound) cooked spiny lobster tails

*1. Trim the tough stalks *and lacy fronds from the fennel, reserving 
enough of the fronds to make 1 tablespoon when minced. Trim the ends, 
then cut the head in quarters lengthwise. Trim out the solid core at the 
center of each quarter. Using a very sharp knife, cut the fennel 
quarters in lengthwise slices as thinly as you can. Place them in a work 
bowl.

*2. Cut the radishes *from the greens and cut them in fairly narrow 
wedges (one-half inch wide pieces). Add them to the fennel.

*3. In a bowl, *stir together the mayonnaise, the reserved 1 tablespoon 
chopped fennel fronds, capers, 1 1/2 tablespoons chives and vinegar. 
Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more vinegar or salt if necessary.

*4. Add half *of the mayonnaise to the salad mixture and toss well to 
coat lightly. Turn it out onto a platter and arrange the salad in a neat 
mound.

*5. Slice the lobster tails *in medallions roughly one-half inch thick. 
Stir gently with remaining mayonnaise to coat lightly. Arrange the 
lobster medallions on top of the fennel salad. Sprinkle with remaining 1 
teaspoon minced chives.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
/*Each serving: *446 calories; 25 grams protein; 13 grams carbohydrates; 
5 grams fiber; 33 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 109 mg. cholesterol; 
773 mg. sodium.
/