Lobster Toasties

Lobster toasties, because you only live once. The extortionate price of these crustaceans means it is unlikely these will ever be regular menu features no matter how good they are. Let’s just enjoy it while it lasts. With the gratuitous assistance of the Monty Python Spam sketch (as quoted by my Dad when I told him about the lobster).

Part of my motivation for this was getting Thermidore, the world’s most 80’s dish, inside a lobster toastie. It just sounds obscene. I love it. Barny was thinking more of something that would actually sell, and went for a classic New England lobster roll.

The Lobster Themidor Toastie

• Meat from half a cooked lobster
• Grated Parmesan
• Themidor Sauce (Onions, cream, butter, fish stock, mustard, parsley, lemon juice, white wine, salt & pepper)

The New England Lobster Toastie

• Gouda
• Meat from half a lobster mixed with mayo, chopped celery, parsley, lemon juice, salt & pepper

Taste.

Lobster toasties were always going to be good. It goes well with cheese, better with a special, dedicated sauce and delightfully with bread. The Themidor was one scoop of cheese short of prefect, which was a shame. We didn’t want to kill the lobster, but it could have stood up to more. The sauce is bursting with flavour, doing all kinds of favours for the meat. So close! 9/10

The New England version was a simpler take on the same kind of flavours. Less intense, so possibly more favourable to the lobster. The celery was a hit. I’m not sure why, but that little bit of crunch made all the difference. We had more cheese in here, which increased the pleasure. It didn’t have quite the decadence of the themidor, but it did have more cheese. 9/10

Appeal
The price tag would stop this one. The ingredients today cost us around £15 and made two toasties. Just two. The lobster was frozen, so freshly sourced it would be around the same price if bought in large quantities. I would love to get this on the menu as a one off, and at the right location we would sell out. We just wouldn’t make any money from it.

Suitability as a signature.
Sure. Not specifically that toastie, but if people get to know us for putting crazy things in toast? Seems fine to me. 8/10

Difficulty Rating
Themidor sauce is a proper piece of kitchen craft that I leave to the chef. He makes it look easy, but that’s just showing off. The New England version is pretty straight forward though, so I’d recommend a crack at that one next time you’re hankering for lobster toasties. You can find frozen cooked lobster in most supermarkets if you don’t want to kill them yourself.

Summary
Yes. We won’t be able to serve it in most places, so I’d strongly recommend having a stab at the New England yourself. If you do want to try the Thermidor don’t forget to dress the plate with sprinkled paprika for that authentic 80’s feel.