How to Eat a Lobster

While visiting Rockland, Maine, we stopped in at Ship to Shore Lobster Company in Owls Head, Maine. They provided us with this diagram of how to eat a lobster.

Fresh Maine lobster is delicious and you can order from Ship to Shore. Eating it is a challenge the first couple of times. But, it does get easier with practice.

I know the images are clear, but I’m not sure about the wording, so I’m going through the steps:

1. Twist off the claws. Separate the pieces of the front claws at each of the joints.
2. Crack the claws and claw pieces with the nutcrackers. Use the pick as needed.
3. Separate the tail from the body with a twisting motion.
4. Break the tail flippers from the tail.
5. Using a fork or your finger, force the tail meat up and out of the other end. Beneath the outer top layer of meat is the digestive tract which should not be eaten. Remove the meat covering from this tract (which looks like a vein) and discard the tract. The outer meat may be eaten.
6. Unhinge the body shell from the body. Remove the “tomalley” (green substance) which is actually the lobster’s liver.
7. Remove the smaller claws from the body. There is meat in the body at the points where each claw was attached.
8. There is some delicate meat in the smaller claws. This can be obtained by breaking apart the claw sections and squeezing out the meat with one’s teeth.

Courtesy of Ship to Shore Lobster Company, Owls Head, Maine 04854
207 594-4606.