“Two-thirds of Britons have piled on the pounds during lockdown…”
Daily Mail (23 May 2020)
Dear Seafoodies
Stories abound about the unwelcome but inevitable side-effects that have potentially arisen as a consequence of the lockdown we are apparently now easing out of, even if the Cummings-and-goings (sorry, that one has to be attributed to Sajid Javid in his resignation speech to the House of Commons on 26 February 2020) of some might suggest we weren't all ever in one in the first place. A Daily Mail article reports that “Two-thirds of Britons have piled on the pounds during lockdown…”. And this, to many, must indeed come as an unwanted side-effect. Among some of my mates, it is probably more accurately seen as a front-effect. And for their wives possibly more of a rear-effect.
Though the sigh of relief across the nation was palpable when the announcement finally came permitting citizens to return to their ritualistic, pre-lockdown, twice-daily exercise regimes, the bunker-bound eating behaviours of the imprisoned population don’t go unnoticed. Even at this advanced stage of national incarceration supermarkets evidently still struggle to fulfil the insatiable and unabated demand for flour and yeast, and though my friends’ young daughter was recently flouting her artistic talents in the making of piñatas for her 7th birthday, I am resistant to the idea that the lion’s share of this flour is going into the manufacture of papier-mâché party decorations. Much more likely the party cake I suggest.
But neither is chewing the fat of the UK lockdown waistline, nor getting to the bottom of the over-estimations of the nations weighing-scales, our present purpose. No! This particularly recipe-packed broadcast from the Bute St Seafoodie boredroom is all about the tubs of shellfish available on the market stall. This boredmember has been going potty over them of late!
Tubs of picked crab meat are on sale year-round and at the present time we are also fortunate to be able to buy tubs of picked lobster meat and tubs of shucked scallops. All of these share the common convenience of containing super-fresh, top-quality seafood with all the (hard?) work taken off our hands while not costing an arm and a leg (abundance of anatomical analogies afoot? Just limb-ering up!). They are a cook’s dream! Having now worked on the stall a couple of times I have witnessed first-hand how they sell and, while for the most part, they fly off the shelf, the enthusiasm they engender among the customers is not without nuance, as I will elaborate upon in turn.
Readers may be interested to know that Dorset Fish and Shellfish Ltd now have an online shop where these and other products can be ordered for next day delivery, and it is with a great deal of pleasure that Bute St Seafoodie has contributed a number of recipes for their produce.
Lobster
Tubs of picked lobster meat appear on the stall more prolifically in the summer, which is also when lobster is priced at its cheapest of the year. To me these are the luxury product on offer but customers' reactions to them can be curious. I can only guess what might be going on in the customer's head as they pick up up a tub exactly the same size and weight as the tub of white crab meat sitting next to it but offered at slightly under twice the price of it. What I hadn't expected (on more than one occasion) was to see the tub replaced and a whole live beast bought in its place. Not quite the like-for-like substitution I would have made.
Consider that the tub contains the cooked meat to the equivalent of that from a 675g lobster and for a comparable price but with the jobs of boiling and picking done for you, and you can only come to the conclusion that these are sensational. OK, you don't get the shells for your bisque or sauce (see recipe for Sauce Américaine, the "ultimate lobster sauce" according to Gordon Ramsay) but, as largely waste products, you might be surprised what freebies can sometimes be available if you ask nicely!
According to Angela Hartnett, Spaghetti all'Aragosta is "Except for grilling, [...] undoubtedly the best way to eat lobster.". For something so exquisite that can be rustled up for two from one tub of lobster meat in just 10 minutes you can only but agree (but then disagreeing with Angela Hartnett about anything is not something many hopefully do). Alternatively, because the lobster tubs contain such hearty chunks of meat, a French classic of Homard a l'Américaine is definitely one to try (though a good lobster stock is required if the dish is to be enjoyed to its full splendour).
