The first time I saw live lobsters outside Maine was nearly 20 years ago, in Ft. Worth, Texas. A mottled-brown heap of them were huddled in a tank in a mega-grocery, whose aisles were as blindingly white and sterile as an operating room.
The lobsters seemed melancholy and out of place-or maybe that was just me, for I too was far from home, living for the first time outside the Midwest.
So I brought a couple home to put them out of their misery-OK, mine-by cooking them up for a friend and me. The meal was all right but the experience was all wrong.
I realized then how vital context is in appreciating foods inextricably linked to where they’re from.
In other words, lobsters should be selected from a slightly dark, faintly fishy-smelling Maine lobster pound. They should be full of fight, scrambling over each other in the shallow, open pools, cursing their capture and impending doom with each frantically waving claw.
Lobsters should be enjoyed in surroundings reverential of the craggy rock and brawny sea from which they were wrested. Or at least in a noisy, wood-paneled room with a lot of buoys, nets and other nautical gear flung on the walls.
The places I know best, from years of going there with family and friends, are along Maine’s southern coast, a 70-mile stretch starting in Kittery and winding through half a dozen or so charming towns and into Kennebunkport. It’s not the Maine of moose and deep pine forests, but a more gently picturesque area with both granite cliffs and soft, white-sand beaches.
Early fall, especially September, is the ideal time to go. The high season is over, so the crowds are way down. Yet the shops remain open (and are holding clearance sales), the beaches are peaceful, the weather is balmy by day and lobsters and clams are still plentiful.
The small resort town of Ogunquit, a former artists colony whose Native American name means “Beautiful Place by the Sea,” makes a lovely home base. Elegant accommodations with ocean views are easy to find (we like to rent an apartment near the downtown) and there is plenty to eat and do–if you’re not overly ambitious. From there, it’s also just a short drive either south to Kittery, with activities of the outlet-shopping kind; or north to Kennebunkport, with activities of the gallery and darling-boutique-browsing kind.
Along the way, in either direction, are lobster pounds, some attached to upscale restaurants, one or two in the garage of a fisherman; clam shacks with picnic tables; and old clapboard houses turned into stores selling kitsch or antiques, with Adirondack chairs lined up out front and wooden lobster traps and copper weathervanes for sale in the yards. For more active sorts, a number of places rent equipment for biking, surfing, kayaking and fishing.
We like our food here the way it’s been offered for generations: unpretentious, generous and, above all, simple-not out of laziness, but because not one thing more is needed.
For proof, look at the preferred way to eat lobster-boiled or steamed, the tender, sweet meat tugged from its shell and dipped in melted butter. Garnished with a Wet Nap. The traditional lobster roll is also simplicity itself, though the result is sinful-chunks of freshly picked lobster meat mixed with just enough mayonnaise to moisten it, piled into a grilled hot dog bun.
We enjoy Maine the most when we let the ocean dictate not only our menu but also our daily schedule.
So on the mornings when we awake to find the tide is out, we grab bagels and walk straight to Ogunquit Beach. The sparkle and glint of sunlight off the rolling waves is seductive, but the water is absolutely frigid. Luckily, the 3-mile-long beach is perfect for long strolls, chasing seagulls and building sandcastles. In the estuary and rockier sections, young sea explorers delight in flipping over the flat, cool stones to look for tiny crabs and snails.
If we awake to find the tide is in, we have a leisurely, decadent breakfast at The Egg and I, where the wild Maine blueberries come either folded into the fluffiest pancakes on earth or simmered down into a luscious compote to spread on top. There’s also a lobster omelette with Newburg sauce, and lobster Benedict with hollandaise, as if the richness of lobster really needs a ladle of cream sauce. Not that we would pass it up.
Whether on the beach or at breakfast, talk soon turns to Our Next Meals. The question isn’t whether we’ll have lobster and fried clams that day, but where, and whether it would be unseemly to have both at lunch and dinner. Again. (My brother and sister-in-law once had fried clams with breakfast, at the consistently delicious Maine Diner in Wells. At the time I thought they were a little touched in the head, but now I admire their foresight and strong hoarding instinct.)
To work up an appetite for lunch, we drive over to McDougal Orchards in Springvale to pick a basket of Macintoshes and Honeycrisps. Or we head north to Kennebunkport, with a stop at Georgetown Pottery, whose local artisans turn out everything from earrings to bird baths, with designs of Asian-inspired simplicity and elegance.
For a sit-down lunch in Kennebunkport, an upper-deck patio table at The Landing Restaurant is perfect. Lingering over fresh lobster rolls, crisply battered fried haddock sandwiches and fat onion rings, we watch boats ply the Kennebunk River below. For lunch on the go, it has to be the Clam Shack, an unassuming little white stand on Maine Highway 9 by the bridge into Kennebunkport. The crunchy-soft, briny fried clams are so hot and fresh, they burst with juice when you pop them in your mouth.
Back in Ogunquit, early evening is a delightful time to take a walk on the Marginal Way-a mile-long, paved footpath along the coastal cliffs-to Perkins Cove. The tiny cove boasts several good restaurants and clothing and home decor shops in a picturesque harbor, where boats like the Ugly Anne offer deep-sea fishing or lobstering excursions. Barnacle Billy’s, with its floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the harbor, is an elegant place for traditional Maine dinners.
For our last night, we recently developed our own tradition: assembling our idea of the perfect Down East feast. We get freshly boiled lobsters and steamed clams from the Wells Beach Lobster Pound where, if it’s not too busy, the kids can pet and feed the lobsters. Yes, this sounds weird, considering what’s about to happen to them, but we tell the kids some poppycock about the Circle of Life and everyone moves on. They’re having pizza anyway.
Then we pick up fried clams from Barnacle Billy’s and add our own corn on the cob, garlic bread and salad.
Not one more thing is needed.
LOBSTER ROLL
Serves 4 to 6
2 pounds freshly cooked lobster meat (preferably tail, claw and knuckle meat only)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (real mayonnaise, not salad dressing-about this Mainers are adamant)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 to 2 tablespoons butter
4 to 6 hot dog buns
1. Mix: Into a large bowl, tear or chop the lobster meat into bite-sized chunks. Mix in just enough mayonnaise to moisten. (You might not need the entire half cup.) Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
2. Griddle: Melt half the butter in a grill pan or frying pan over medium heat. Open 2 or 3 of the buns and grill in the pan, cut side down. Flip and toast the other side. Griddle the remaining buns in the remaining butter.
3. Serve: Spoon lobster salad among the buns. Serve with potato chips and a pickle for lunch. For dinner, with French fries and cole slaw.
–Adapted from The Landing Restaurant & Guest Rooms, Kennebunkport
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dchen@tribune.com
