Neither the hamburger nor the pizza, the quintessential summer snack on the east coast of the United States is the lobster roll
Boston it is a proud city, full of citizens proud of their collective pride. In this apparent truism lies a truth like a temple only appreciable when you have been living in the capital of Massachusetts for some time: For better or worse, Bostonians will defend what is theirs to the last breath. Although they know to themselves that they are not right.
It is nothing new to say that the lobster roll or lobster roll They are big words. From the northern Gulf of Maine past the lighthouses of Cape Cod to the last dune on the beaches of Provincetown, its presence is felt as something almost sacred, as something that was always there. Although originally created in Connecticut in the year 1929, the city of Boston claimed the title of unofficial capital of lobster roll before someone raised their voices and competed for their reign.
Neither the hamburger nor the pizza, The quintessential summer snack on the East Coast of the United States is the lobster roll. And it is not debatable.
The truth is that the summer sandwich has everything to be revered. Brioche bread (toasted or not), lobster tacos (fresh or frozen), condiments to choose according to the cook's stamp (lettuce, celery, lemon juice or ground black pepper) and a generous portion of fries and coleslaw. Between bites, a glass of Californian white wine or a local craft beer pairs perfectly with tiberium.
This succinct description of the recipe must be enclosed in quotation marks or marked in italics, because the eternal debate between the defenders of the lobster roll at Maine style (with mayonnaise and served cold) or Connecticut style (with melted butter and served hot) It is something as absurd as the null combat between the followers of the tortilla with or without onion.
What few dispute is that you have to go back to 1993 to find its introduction into the imaginary of popular North American cuisine. It was that year when McDonald's understood its full potential and integrated it into its fast food offer. "100% Atlantic lobster," the ad said. Lobster, or rather, substitute marine crustacean, less than 9 dollars.
“My first bite of lobster from McDonald's was better than I expected,” writes Mike Urban in New England Today as a seafood expert and author of the book LobsterShacks. “Lobster meat, first frozen and then thawed, is flaccid and watery in the mouth. My initial enthusiasm faded with each successive bite. By the time I finished my McRoll, I was simply longing for the true essence of New England seafood places. Hats off to McDonald's for having the courage and cunning to enter the competitive and highly profitable lobster business. If nothing else, its price will serve as a calling card for many diners and families with modest budgets."
It's easy to imagine that The McDonaldization of lobster was not an easy task. Since its introduction, it gave managers more headaches than joy, because it was not very profitable to offer lobster to the almost 14,000 fast food chain outlets. When supply problems loomed out the door, the *lobster roll* went out the window. It remained a beautiful memory for certain areas of Hawaii, Canada or New England, which recover it in summer with more sorrow than glory.
“My first lobster roll was at a McDonald's. The first lobster of my life and it had to be inside a McDonald's." laughs Víctor Llacuna, professor at the Fessenden School and historian of North American cuisine and collaborator of Alternative Gastronomy.
“To the newcomer, Perhaps what surprises you most is that the lobster roll is everywhere. In general, lobster is not as exceptional as in Spain, and the lobster roll in particular is a sandwich even from a tavern, bar or supermarket. It's like the cheesesteak in Philadelphia, a popular snack later appropriated by the city's trendy restaurants to add a higher status. In the end, it all comes down to the fact that in the United States they know how to sell anything very well.”
And if to sell you have to blurt out some pious lie along the way with the arts of gastronomic marketing, then it is done without remorse. “First, many Boston restaurants will tell you that the lobster they serve inside the lobster roll is from Maine and it's not true. And second, lobster is not a food related to luxury. If you randomly ask passers-by, most will tell you that they have eaten lobster once in their life. In other words, the number of people will be much higher in the streets of Boston than, for example, in Barcelona”, says Víctor Llacuna rightly.
“Think that I have friends who annually pay a fortune to have a lobster catching license. Just as we go to look for mussels on the rocks, they take their lobsters home”.
This is precisely an important nuance. It is not the first nor the last case of street food or street food that sheds its skin inside a restaurant with the corresponding change of status (and price). Right now, eating a lobster roll in a trendy restaurant in the Fort Point area, such as Row 34, costs the diner a whopping 32 dollars (about 27 euros) With a little grated truffle on top, you pay a good handful of extra dollars. A similar price will be found by regulars at Public Boston Market.
“Boston is a great food city. And an expensive city. I say this from the beginning because although you will find excellent lobster rolls, it is possible that you will find yourself with a viscous mass”, writes Amy Traverso in New England Today.
“While most Maine lobster joints, with their relatively low overhead, aim to keep prices below $20, the best places in boston city they can reach 32 dollars. The price is high, in part, because the price of lobster has increased since 2017. Then you have to factor in the higher built-in costs of rent, payroll and other behind-the-scenes needs.”
It is precisely this surplus value of one of the most expensive cities in the United States that national and international tourism finds itself with. If you visit the city, you won't leave without trying a lobster roll. Whatever it takes. And that is unacceptable to most Bostonians, who they know that neither the price of the product nor its preparation deserve this economic abuse within the reach of very few pockets.
“Regardless of the season, $32 is way too much for a lobster roll. From the fishermen, to the distributors, the distributors and the restaurateur… They all have too much margin in their favor. Everyone involved wants to make too much money with too little. And there are fools who will pay these prices because they have the money to pay it. But most people can't afford $32 for 6 or 8 ounces of lobster and bread with mayonnaise or butter,” says an enraged local looking at a list of Boston's 10 best places to eat lobster roll.
Few renowned places maintain a certain nostalgia for the past. Perhaps Neptune Oyster, Union Oyster House, Yankee Lobster, Alive and Kicking or Pauli's maintain the unanimous favor of the respectable.
“We believe that when it comes to lobster rolls, Boston is the unofficial capital of the world. , say the creators of Pauli's, in the North End neighborhood. “Getting fresh lobsters daily in New England is not as difficult as it is in other regions of the country. This allows Boston residents expect lobster rolls with a higher level of freshness, flavor and quality. Our rolls use the most succulent parts of the lobster meat. In the claws, the joints of the claws to the shell and in the tail, where there is more meat, that is where all its flavor is.” A flavor that is not exempt from scratching your pocket.
Given the 'gentrification' of the lobster roll, tourists have three options: religiously pay the extra cost, travel to Maine or Cape Cod where the lobster will be fresher and cheaper, or search the outskirts of the city for the last redoubts of a disappeared Boston. Enclaves like Belle Island Seafood in the town of Winthrop. Areas in which the Latino community and the working class reside with their noisy docks with the airport planes flying scandalously low and the skyscrapers of Boston on the horizon.
Clams, squid, clam chowder, fresh fish and, of course, world-class lobster rolls recommended by himself Anthony Bourdain when he took an alternate route to cover the underside of Boston with a local rocker on NN's Parts Unknown.
“The bad thing that I see in the lobster roll is the quality of the bread. It is true that when it comes to bread, we Spaniards are quite fussy, but the truth is that I prefer to eat a whole lobster, which will cost me the same or a little more”, he assures Lucia Cabal, Spanish scientist with many years behind her as a Bostonian.
Although they are expensive, I can justify its price in my head." says Miki Hayano, Business Developer in Biomedicine. “An average sized lobster produces enough meat for a good lobster roll, so if a lobster costs $5 a pound (in the winter it will be more), then that It's already $7.5 just for the raw ingredients. Here add labor, manually empty the lobster (I have my history of injuries with the shell of lobsters) condiments, etc. Plus it's the inflation of the restaurant and the fishing place. In the end, I understand that it exceeds 20 dollars.”
The issue of price centralizes the opinion of many. This is also the case of the Belgian scientist Dries Sels. "Like everything in Boston, the price is high due to rents. In second place, a lobster costs about 10 dollars a piece at the fish market. Since the lobster roll is basically a whole lobster in a sandwich, you probably have to be sold for around $20 for a profit.”
Despite who gets upset, the devotion to the lobster roll is alive for a while in Boston. This does not imply that the locals do not know how to see all their imperfections. That is, Bostonians may criticize its content, form and price, they may stop ordering it in restaurants, reserving it for gatherings with family or friends, or they may even abhor it for a while. But what they do not accept is the easy criticism of the newcomer. It is one thing to skin what is yours and quite another to let the visitor beat him at will. As if it were easy to eat a good paella in Barcelona or Valencia.
Let's not let the perfect Boston summer sandwich die