Lobster & Blueberry sauce: where Tuscany meets Maine
I see many points of contact between Mount Desert and the place where I
was born in Tuscany. The place is an island, as well as Mount Desert, and, like
Mount Desert, it is constituted by a whole piece of granite rock. Its name is Giglio.
Then longitude, latitude, glacial eras and time have
shaped the two islands in different way. But any time I came up here, I can
recognize the same familiar smell in the rock. Like on my island, there is an
overcoming tourist mass in summer time, while in winter there are only the
local dwellers and the island falls in a great silence. Fishing represented one
of the most ancient and practised economic sources: anchovies and sardines in
the Mediterranean, lobsters and crabs in this section of the Atlantic Ocean.
Pine trees on my island and huge red woods here. The landscape is different,
but when I go to the marvellous Sand Beach, I feel to be at Cannelle beach in
Giglio, where I use to go in winter, rather than in summer when it is crowded,
to translate in words my emotions on a piece of paper.
I am a chef. When I come to Mount Desert I put into my
dishes my style of Italian islander, using the ingredients I find here. My
cuisine is always a “fusion”. And I like “fusion”, which, to my soul, means combine
together all the good that there is in the world. Not only in the cuisine
field.
Olive Oil, white wine, lobster, blue berries and maple
syrup. How to mix without mess?
Let’s see: we have three typical Maine ingredients and
only two from Tuscany. I’ll fix this lack adding the brutality of Tuscan style
as third basic ingredient. All the other ingredients are widespread all over
the world, although with different shades, included passion in making, mouth
watering in seeing, satisfaction in eating.
MAIN LOBSTER WITH BLUEBERRIES SAUCE
Ingredients, serves 2:
1 lobster, medium size
80 gr ( 2 ½ Oz ) blueberries
40 gr ( 1 ½ Oz) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
50 ml ( 3tbs ) dry white wine
1 (good) splash of (good) Brandy
1 tbs maple syrup
1 garlic clove
1 bay leaf
salt to taste
Cut in half, length - wise the alive lobster, paying
attention to insert the point of the knife between the eyes, to hit the brains,
so that the animal would die immediately without suffering.
Gather all the juices coming out . Eliminate the black
thread.
In a large skillet brown the crushed garlic clove in
the olive oil along with the bay leaf and the hot chilli pepper.
Take out the brown garlic, bay leaf and pepper from
the pan. Add the two halves of lobster, meat down first. Put a lid on the pan.
Cook 3 minutes at medium heat then turn the lobster on the other side. Cook 3
minutes.
Splash the sauce with the brandy and fire it.
Take the lobster off the pan. Remove the pan from
heat.
Take off the shell and keep the pulp warm. The pulp,
after the searing, should be white and firm outside, but still juicy and tender
inside.
Put the shell and head back into the pan, together
with the reserved raw juices. Cook on low heat until the juices thicken and the
shell changes completely colour. Take out the shell and head.
Pour in the wine and let it evaporate.
Add almost all the berries, leaving some for garnish.
Add the maple syrup. Pour in a little hot water if
needed. Cook to reduce. Salt to taste. Blend the mixture with a hand – mixer
then filter it through a chinois, to obtain a smooth running sauce. Put back on
the heat if it need to reduce further.
Cut the lobster tail and serve with the sauce on top
and some berries as garnish.
Good side dishes are baked small potatoes and braised
zucchini.
emotional and ...yummy!
Comments
Post a Comment