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Live Lobster In History
Ahhhhh! Just think about forking a succulent bite of fresh lobster meat into your mouth and savoring it all the way down! How could anything taste more sublime? But before you rush out to your nearest Red Lobster and choose your live lobster for a $25.00 lobster dinner, let's spend a little bit of time getting to know something about the critter that you're drooling over.
Early Native Americans were a funny bunch. They had super-easy access to lobsters, but they refused to eat them. Instead, they used them to fertilize their farm fields or as fish bait. How sad is that?
The early colonists didn't like them much, either. They also considered lobsters to be fertilizer and used them only as food for the poor. They fed them to their children, slaves, and indentured servants. Indentured servants eventually started fighting back and refused to sign contracts until they were guaranteed to only have to eat lobster three times a week. Unfortunately, the children and slaves didn't have contracts.
Until the early 19th century, people collected lobsters by hand from tide pools along the shore. The first lobster traps didn't appear until around 1850. Lobster meat was only sold in cans, and the canned meat just didn't have much flavor, so it wasn't popular with consumers.
With the advent of modern transportation, live lobsters became the delicacies they continue to be today. As it became possible to ship live lobsters to America's largest cities, they caught on with the well-to-do, and the rest is just history.
Did you ever choose a live lobster from a tank, watch while restaurant personnel remove him, and then have him appear cooked on your dinner plate? It gives you a weird feeling, doesn't it? Your feelings are only normal. You just have to resign yourself to the fact that the little qualms you feel are all a part of the lobster-eating experience.
My great-grandmother was raised during the Victorian period of the late 19th century. During her formative years, girls were sheltered from the sordid parts of life. She wouldn't have been able to imagine something as terrible as putting a live animal into boiling water. In her later years, she still couldn't bring herself to eat the seafood that was all the rage with everyone else. Her Victorian sensibilities made the thought of seafood repugnant to her.
It's amazing how tastes change over the years. For centuries the succulent meat of much-maligned lobsters went unnoticed and unappreciated. Then, almost overnight, lobsters moved from obscurity into the fanciest restaurants of the time.
About the Author This article does a great job of touching on lobsters, one thing is for sure, this topic is rather large and can't cover everything in only one article. There is also ship live lobster that we could probably write another 10 articles on. You may also want to check out live lobsters shipped.
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