On lobster

I have a sneaking suspicion Toby won't like this post. I anticipate that I may shortly be lambasted for use of unrealistic ingredients or some such culinary crime. But when someone gives you three lobsters, it would be churlish would it not, to fail to rise to the challenge?

I should be clear from the outset that these crustaceans were not killed by my own fair hand (sorry Tobes, I am a cheat as well as a terrific food snob). My friendly fishmonger Guy (whom you may recall from earlier episodes) displayed his not-so-friendly side and did the dastardly deed. So for the purposes of this recipe, let's just say that you should ask your fishmonger to bring an end to the lobsters' days and cut them in two, straight down the backbone so to speak.

Now as I had never cooked lobster before, there was much hesitation as what would happen to the claws if I grilled them as I was planning to do with the meaty central bits. In the end, the big claws were removed, cooked separately for ten minutes in boiling water and left to cool. It worked perfectly, as did the hammer...

In the meantime I crushed a clove of garlic and chopped a handful of parsley which I then mixed into some salted butter. Remembering some long-ago learned professional kitchen trick, I rolled this in cling film to create a perfect cylinder of butter which could then be sliced and laid on top of the lobster halves as below. They then met their end for a second time, under the grill for ten minutes at its highest temperature.

The end result was quite spectacular. I had always been more of a fan of crab with a good mayonnaise and some brown bread, eschewing lobster as overpriced fare for fools. I now have to admit that these fools may have a point... And try as I might, Guy has not shown any signs of wanting to make me a present of any more of his best Britanny lobsters. He's no fool that man, no fool at all.

Kate, Paris, November 2nd