Pots of Pink Gold

Most lobster pounds in Maine cook their lobsters in sea water over a wood fire.

I'm not sure how much revenue the lobstering business brings into the state of Maine, but it plays a major part in the economy here. Hard to believe that lobsters were once considered a trash food. They were so abundant that farmers used them as fertilizers and there is a popular story about a prisoner revolt initiated because the inmates were served lobster every night. Times have surely changed the standing of this pink crustacean in our culinary pecking order. Maine lobster fishermen can harvest any lobster between 3.5 and 5 inches long (measured along the carapace) but must throw back egg-bearing females. Lobstermen can have as many as 800 traps in the water at a given time, meaning they are constantly checking and re-baiting traps throughout the peak summer lobster season. Needless to say, lobsters are on virtually every menu here and keep a lot of folks employed in the region.