Don’t you just love it what National Days and Church Traditions come together? Today just happens to be National Lobster Day. It’s also Friday, a day when the Catholic Faithful traditionally abstain from eating meat.
Yeah, like broiled lobster tails swimming in sweet, creamy butter is such a sacrifice. Although once upon a time lobsters were considered garbage food, usually served to the poor or prisoners in labor camps.
Stories abound that when European settlers first reached North America, crustaceans such as lobster were so plentiful that they washed ashore in piles as high as two feet. In the beginning, when times were hard lobsters were a precious source of sustenance. But in time their over abundance made lobsters viewed as a lowbrow source of protein. If you can imagine, the delicacy and luxury of dining on a lobster was once so common and dirt-cheap that they were fed to criminals and slaves rather than the masters of the plantations.
Today it’s the burger made from discarded cuts of beef that is cheap. When the Church made giving up meat a form of penance on Fridays, it was directed to those of means. The poor were lucky if they got more than some root vegetables in their diets. No, it was the wealthily, those so comfortable in their lives that they rarely turned to God to give thanks that the Church intended to reform. So why do so many traditional Catholics continue to abstain from meat on Fridays? Especially when most seafood these days beyond Tuna Salad is considered a treat. It’s because Christ died for our sins on a Friday. He called his disciples to be fishers of men. It’s to draw attention to His sacrifice in our lives even today in a world that seems to overflow in indulgences.
While I do enjoy my lobster tails, I remember to bow my head, to give thanks and to praise Christ always.
Happy National Lobster Day everyone.
Garlic Butter Broiled Lobster Tails
12 tablespoons Butter, divided
Kosher Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
Paprika to taste
2 Garlic Cloves
4 (4 oz) Lobster Tails
Heat the broiler in the oven and position the top rack about 4 to 6 inches from the element.
Let 4 tablespoons butter soften in a bowl. Season with salt, pepper and paprika. Peel and press garlic into the butter, mash to combine and set aside. Melt remaining butter for serving.
Use sharp kitchen scissors to cut down the middle of the lobster tail, being careful to only cut the shell, not the lobster meat. Cut all the way down to the fins of the tail. Turn the lobster tail over and use both thumbs to gently crack each rib of the lobster (between the little feet of the lobster), this will make it easier to pull the shell apart and reveal the lobster meat.
Place the lobster tails on a broiler pan seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika. Place a tablespoon of the garlic butter on top of each lobster tail and pop them into the oven for about 7 minutes or so, until lobster meat turns from opaque to white and is slightly browned on top. Careful to not let the lobster burn, keep an eye on it!
Serve the lobster tails immediately alongside the melted butter.. These beautiful tails are perfect with Tempura Shrimp and your favorite Rice Pilaf dish.
LORD, what is man, that You notice him;
the son of man, that You take thought of him?
Man is like a breath;
his days, like a passing shadow.
