Food & Drink

The Maine attraction

It's all about the lobster here, but if you must, there are also museums, shops and lighthouses

By Helen Bryant Anders
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, March 03, 2006

WESTPORT ISLAND, Maine — We come here for two things: solitude and lobster. There's no chance that we won't get both, or that we'll tire of either in a week's time.

The solitude is possible because we visit Midcoast Maine in the spring or fall, when the tourist infestation wanes. We stay at a friend's cottage at the edge of the Sheepscot River, one of Maine's myriad inlets from the Atlantic Ocean.

We read on a small pier or lie in a hammock, listening to lapping water, a mournfully clanging buoy and, occasionally, a crying gull.

From time to time, a seal will sail by or a lobsterman will come check his traps. (There is, by the way, no gender-neutral term for one who lobsters; women who do the job call themselves women lobstermen.)

When we need a little civilization, we head out to a lighthouse, a beach or one of the area's marine-themed museums.

And every day — every single day — we eat lobster.

The rest of the year, it's rare for us to so indulge. But up here, where the crustaceans are plentiful and relatively cheap ($5.99 a pound, at last check), we rejoice in finding new ways to prepare them. We eat them at restaurants, too, especially in rolls.

We had our first lobster roll of this trip in Portland on the way up, at Benny's, a little shack on the banks of Casco Bay that also has tasty clam rolls and haddock sandwiches.

A lobster roll is lobster meat encased in a long, toasted roll. Some people add mayonnaise, celery salt or other extras, but we tend to prefer the plain version that lets the lobster meat speak for itself, sometimes with a little butter on the side. It's a sandwich without peer.

Hold the worms

Westport Island juts out from the village of Wiscasset, which bills itself as the Prettiest Village in Maine. Maine has a lot of pretty villages, but this one's special. Its antique shops aren't cloyingly cute, and it has a wonderful public library, with free Internet access, in an old home.

Best of all, Wiscasset is home to Red's Eats, which has what many call the best lobster rolls in Maine. The roll is packed with more than a whole lobster. Add a Pepsi and some crunchy onion rings, and it's one of the best meals anywhere. The roll costs $14. It's worth it.

What the Wiscasset tourism folks don't talk about is that the pretty village is also the Worm Capital of the World. Bloodworms, some a foot long, are dug up here and used for sport-fishing bait worldwide. A lot of clammers have turned to worming as a more profitable career.

For the record, we've never seen a worm in Wiscasset. You have to go looking for them.

Near the turnoff to Westport is Simpson's Oceanfresh Seafood, where we scored three lively lobsters for our first night's dinner, along with some halibut and crab. It wasn't easy, given the language barrier between my Texas-born husband and the jovial Mainer behind the counter.

"How are the cra-yubs today?" hubby asked.

"Oh, the crowds aren't too bahd," the Mainer replied.

The lobsters were 1 1/2-pound soft shells, so called because the lobsters were in the process of growing new shells, having recently molted. Soft-shell lobsters have a solid carapace, but it's a bit more pliable than the hard shell the lobster eventually establishes. There's a bit less meat inside, so the soft-shell lobsters sometimes cost a little less, but they're often sweeter.

Before we steamed the lobsters, we watched them back around the kitchen floor with their tails tucked defensively. I think they knew what was in store. Hubby tossed them into the pot with an apology.

They didn't scream. We've never heard them so much as sigh deeply. Still, it's regrettable that these guys have to be dealt with alive; you don't have to look a steak in the eye.

But it's hard to regret so fabulous a meal. We consumed our lobsters with some of Maine's wonderful sweet corn on the cob and, later, a blackberry cobbler my husband made from the tart local berries. We saved the meat of one lobster for a later bisque, tacos or a lobster Louie.

Can't eat 'em all

I honestly don't think I'd get cabin fever if we spent a week here without getting out, but coastal Maine's midsection is filled with places to visit.

Among our favorites is Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, which is open to the public. The keeper's house is a museum of lighthouse and fishing history. It's also fun to watch waves crash into the huge rocks below the lighthouse. The rocks can be crawled on, but the lighthouse folks warn not to climb out too far. Now and then, they say, a tourist falls victim to a rogue wave. Nevertheless, hubby traipsed out to take a picture, ignoring my pleas that he not become fodder for a "Texan washed out to sea" headline.

Nearby, in the tourist haven of Boothbay Harbor, is the Maine State Aquarium, where we saw a 17-pound lobster named Louie. Alas, I was recently informed that Louie is no more; he died while molting. The museum has a new giant lobster, Fritz Hugh, who weighs in at 23 pounds.

The museum also has blue lobsters and orange lobsters, along with one that's half blue and half orange (chances of that happening: 1 in 30 million). There's a marine petting zoo and a robotic sub that provides an undersea look at lobster habitat.

We like a restaurant in nearby East Boothbay called Lobsterman's Wharf, which has some tables overlooking the river. The menu features twin lobsters.

"How do you know they're twins?" our son asked the waitress one year. She didn't bother to answer.

Southwest of Wiscasset is Bath, a shipbuilding town that's home to the vast Maine Maritime Museum, where numerous buildings house exhibits on sailing, fishing, and, yes, lobstering. Lobsters are caught when they enter a trap through a net funnel. They go from that funnel into another funnel that leads to an area known as the parlor or bedroom. It's next to impossible for the lobster to get back out.

Near Bath, past Phippsburg, is Popham Beach, a nice place to sit in the sand unless the mosquitoes are feeling ravenous, which they were on the day we tried to go. We didn't stay long.

Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, which has both an art museum and the free Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, an anthropological museum on the top floor of Hubbard Hall.

Across the street is the home of Civil War hero Joshua Chamberlain (which was also, earlier, the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).

Those who enjoy the art of Andrew, N.C., and Jamie Wyeth will want to journey north to Rockland to see the Farnsworth Art Museum, which also has some works by Edward Hopper.

And then there's Freeport, a town jam-packed with outlets, including the 24-hour L.L. Bean flagship. Even in the dead of night, traffic tends to be awful. I ran screaming, but thousands clearly love it.

Lobster lore and more

I always take lobster literature to read in Maine. Last year, it was "The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean" by Trevor Corson. Among other things, it explains the sex life of lobsters, which has both its sweet and dramatic moments.

This year's choice was "The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier," by Colin Woodard. It examines the difficult life of a lobsterman. Reading it pretty much solidified my decision not to lobster for a living.

I should mention, because you can't stay at our friend's place, that this area has tons of nice-looking bed-and-breakfast places, including one on Westport Island called the Squire Tarbox Inn that serves good meals (you don't have to stay there to eat there). It also makes and sells goat cheese from its own goats.

On our last night in Maine, we had one final meal of lobster and wine, then walked out to a tiny beach near the cottage, sat on rocks and sang all 39 verses of "What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?" If there were any tourists left on our island at that point, I'm fairly sure we drove them away.

Lobster basics

The ratio of lobsters to the pot is important: A 4-gallon to 5-gallon pot is ideal for steaming 6 pounds to 8 pounds of lobster. Put 2 inches of seawater or salted water in the bottom of a large kettle. Set a steaming rack inside the pot and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Put in the live lobsters, one at a time; cover the pot and start timing. Rearrange the lobsters halfway through cooking.

Cooking times
(Based on the lobster-to-pot ratio mentioned above)
1 pound — 10 minutes
1 1/4 pounds — 12 minutes
1 1/2 pounds — 14 minutes
1 3/4 pounds — 16 minutes
2 pounds — 18 minutes
2 1/2 pounds — 22 minutes
3 pounds — 25-30 minutes
5 pounds — 40-45 minutes
Source: Maine Lobster Promotion Council

How to crack open a lobster
1. Put on the bib. (My husband resists this, but it's a good idea unless you want to spatter whatever you're wearing.)
2. Twist off the claws.
3. Crack each claw and knuckle with a lobster or nut cracker. Remove the meat.
4. Separate the tail from the body and break off the tail flippers. Extract the meat from each flipper.
5. Insert a fork and push the tail meat out in one piece. Remove and discard the black vein that runs the entire length of the tail meat.
6. Separate the shell of the body from the underside by pulling them apart. The green thing is called the tomalley and considered either a delicacy or disgusting. Eat or discard, accordingly.
7. Open the underside of the body by cracking it apart in the middle, with the small walking legs on either side. Extract the meat from the leg joints and the legs themselves by biting down on the leg and squeezing the meat out with your teeth.
8. Use the wet napkins to clean up.
Primary source: Maine Lobster Promotion Council

Recipes

Dean Fearing, longtime executive chef at Dallas' Mansion on Turtle Creek, created this dish in 1986. It's still a best-seller at the Mansion and one of my personal favorites. Dean serves it with a yellow tomato salsa and jicama salad. Both recipes can be found in his book "The Mansion on Turtle Creek Cookbook."

Warm lobster taco
4 1-lb. lobsters
6 7-inch fresh flour tortillas
3 Tbsp. corn oil
1 cup grated jalapeño Jack cheese
1 cup shredded spinach leaves

Preheat oven to 300 degree. Fill a large stock pot with lightly salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add lobsters and boil until just done. Drain and let lobsters cool slightly. Wrap tortillas tightly in foil and place in preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until heated through. Keep warm until ready to use.

Remove meat from lobster tails, being careful not to tear it apart. Cut meat into thin medallions (or medium dice if meat breaks apart).

Heat oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat and sauté lobster medallions until just heated through. Spoon equal portions of warm lobster medallions into the center of each warm tortilla. Sprinkle with equal portions of grated cheese and shredded spinach.

Roll tortillas into a cylinder and place each on a warm serving plate with the edge facing the bottom.

(I took a class from Dean on the preparation of this dish, and he melted the cheese by dropping it briefly in a hot sauté pan, lifted up from the burner. This works well if you're not preparing many servings of the dish and you're serving it promptly.)
- Source: Dean Fearing, 'The Mansion on Turtle Creek Cookbook'

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This is my husband's version of a favorite. He swears the brand-name ingredients make a difference.

Seafood Louie
3 ounces each or more of fresh lobster, crab meat and small salad shrimp
1/2 cup Heinz chili sauce
1/2 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. minced onion

Mix ingredients together. Spoon seafood mixture atop mixed greens (iceburg or romaine lettuce). Garnish with boiled egg halves, tomato wedges, lemon wedges and black olives. Sprinkle finely chopped parsley on top.
— John Anders

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My husband makes the world's best cobblers, in my totally biased opinion, regardless of the fruit in them. In Maine, he chooses the locally grown, slightly tart blackberries.

Blackberry cobbler
1 to 1 1/2 pints fresh blackberries
1 cup whole milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 stick butter or margarine, sliced into 1/2-inch pats

Stir ingredients gently and pour into a standard aluminum foil baking pan (because you're not going to want to clean the mess out of one of your good pans) to depth of 2 inches or more. Do not overstir.

Bake at 380 degrees for 30-35 minutes, making sure mixture bubbles constantly. Brown under broiler for a minute or so. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
— John Anders