For Americans, few foods say “fancy night out” like lobster. A mainstay at U.S. steakhouses (which we’ve ranked worst to best), lobster is sometimes pricy, but many folks are willing to shell out the money for the experience. Lobster wasn’t always considered a luxury meal, however. In fact, in America’s early days, lobster was nicknamed “the cockroach of the sea” and was often served to prisoners. America’s shores were lousy with them, so eating a lobster was viewed not as a treat but as population control, the domain of servants and the poor, none of whom had much choice in the matter. Some servants were reportedly so sick of them, they would even request reprieves from lobster meals before signing employment contracts. So, how did lobsters go from prison provision to desirable delicacy?
Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, when folks were desperate to thin lobsters’ numbers, few people actually knew how to prepare them so that they tasted good and didn’t make people sick. The flesh on lobsters’ bodies contains certain bacteria that quickly multiply and take over when a lobster dies. To rid a lobster’s body of bacteria and prevent food poisoning, they must be cooked alive, which kills about 99% of that harmful bacteria. Of course, back then, no one knew this, which might explain why the wealthy steered clear. Fortunately, improvements in food preservation — namely canning and, later, refrigeration — as well as advancements in biological knowledge and culinary experimentation enabled this abundant but lowly regarded food source to rocket into the top echelon of dining options, where it remains to this day.
How lobster clawed its way to the top
Despite lobsters literally piling up on beaches, historical records report that few folks had any interest in eating them. Native Americans, long familiar with the swimming pests, would harvest them for crop fertilizer and fish bait, just to thin their numbers. Eventually, however, a few advances made lobster more palatable.
First came the advent of canning, which was the best method of preserving food before refrigeration came along. As explorers began traveling long distances by ship, and as train travel enabled citizens to see more of the world, ships and trains needed food that was abundant, affordable, and preservable — and canned lobster fit that bill. The more lobster was canned, the more improvements were made to fishing methods and lobster traps so that healthier, larger lobster could be harvested.
Then came better methods for storing lobster, from tanks to refrigerators. Laws were eventually established to prevent overfishing and encourage healthy lobstering. Chefs experimented with ways to prepare lobster, particularly after the 20th-century discovery that cooking them alive was safer and led to a fresher taste. Before long, there was more demand for lobsters than the beaches could supply, which made them even more attractive to the wealthy. Today, lobster is beloved as a fine-dining entrée, and it’s even the centerpiece of one of the most expensive tasting menus in the country, found at Maine’s White Barn Inn Restaurant. The state even hosts an annual lobster festival, and we think it’s one of the U.S. food festivals you should attend at least once.
