Cookery: roast lobster with vanilla butter.

To my mind the lobster is the king of the crustaceans and the best in the world come from Scotland, where the conditions for them to breed -- rocky areas with clean cold water -- are unparalleled. Now’s the time to buy them too, since the price rockets after September.

The older the lobster the heavier it will be, so choose one that weighs around 500-750g. One news story from 2009 told of a 9kg specimen estimated to be 140 years old, which was granted a compassionate reprieve from the pot in a New York restaurant after the campaign group Peta heard of its imminent fate.

A young female lobster that seems heavy for its size is the goal for a dish like this, so pick a few up and get a feel for them. You can tell a lobster’s sex by turning it on to its back -- a female will have a hollow in its belly.

 

Roast lobster with vanilla butter

Serves 4 as a starter

 

The lobster

2 live lobsters, 500-600g each

2tbsp olive oil

Salt and fresh ground white pepper

 

Kill the lobsters by piercing the centre of the head with a large knife and cutting down and through, quickly and efficiently.

Set the oven to 220C/gas mark 7 and place a large oven dish on the middle shelf.

Crack each claw with a meat mallet or the blunt end of a cleaver. Place the lobsters in the oven dish, spoon the olive oil over them and season with a little salt and fresh ground pepper.

Place the dish back in the oven and cook the lobsters for 10-15 minutes or until red, then remove them from the oven. When the lobsters are cool enough to handle, extract the meat from the claws by gently twisting the shell at the point where it is cracked. If the meat sticks to the shell, free it with a small knife.

Detach the tails from the heads by twisting them at the joint between body and tail, then discard the bodies. With a pair of scissors, cut the shell on the underside of each tail in half lengthways and remove the meat.

If there is any green protein at the top of the tail then remove it with the tip of a knife (you can whisk this into soft butter, use it to make a sauce or discard it). Cut the tail meat into 5mm slices. Place the claw and tail meat on a plate, cover with tinfoil and keep warm.

 

The sauce

150ml dry white wine

2tbsp white wine vinegar

4 shallots, finely sliced

5tbsp double cream

150g cold butter, diced

Half a vanilla pod, split in half

 

Bring the wine, vinegar and shallots to the boil and reduce the volume by two-thirds. Add the double cream, boil for 30 seconds, then lower the heat, gradually whisking in the butter until fully incorporated.

Pass the sauce through a fine sieve into a clean pan, then scrape the vanilla seeds out of the pod and whisk them into the sauce while gently warming it for a couple of minutes. Store at room temperature until ready to use.

 

To serve

1tbsp butter

500g baby spinach, washed

200g watercress

 

Melt the butter in a pan and add the spinach and watercress. Stir until the vegetables have wilted, seasoning them with a little salt and fresh ground pepper.

Arrange the wilted veg on a warm plate then place a lobster claw and a few slices of the tail on top. Finish with three or four spoonfuls of sauce over the lobster and serve immediately.

 

WINE MATCH

2008 Chablis, Premier Cru, “Vaillons”, Jean-Paul et Benoit Droin, Burgundy, WoodWinters (www.wood winters.com, 01786 834894), £19

 

Kicking off with a soft, aromatic taste, this chablis swiftly develops fresh fruit and mineral notes before ending elegantly.

 

Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond, Cameron House, Loch Lomond. Visit www.martin-wishart.co.uk or call 01389 722504.