I first heard the expression “lazy man’s lobster” from a friend who spent his childhood in upstate New York. He described weekly family outings, usually on Saturdays, to a bustling seafood restaurant.
It wasn’t fancy, but it was still a treat, going out for dinner instead of having an ordinary weeknight meal at home. This was back when a lobster didn’t cost an arm and a leg.
You know the sort of place: The walls are knotty pine and draped with fishing nets and buoys. Most of the windows are portholes. Various bits of nautical décor set off an otherwise modest room. Over the clanking of dishes, a microphone announces: “Johnson, party of four in the brig … Perkins, party of two in the galley.” An entire table’s dinner arrives from the kitchen hoisted high on giant oval trays.
Chunks of unsalted butter are melted down here, to create a simple sauce for the lobster.CreditDavid Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
The father would choose the Captain’s Platter, a crisp assortment from deep fryer that included cod, scallops, shrimp and clam strips, served with mayonnaise-y tartar sauce and deep red cocktail sauce.
Until my friend turned 9, when he was permitted to order his own whole steamed lobster, he always ordered a well-stuffed lobster roll. (You could have a green salad or a cup of clam chowder to start, and a baked potato, French fries or rice with the main course.)
But his mother’s typical order was the lazy man’s lobster. She knew what wanted: hot lobster and plenty of butter. As well as what she did not: to be seen wearing a bib in public, or to get her hands messy prying lobster meat from the shell.
Her dinner came in a gondola-shaped casserole dish, carrying chunks of hot lobster swimming in butter, a lemon wedge stuck with a miniature Neptune’s trident and a parsley sprig.
There are other approaches to the lazy lobster. Some involve sauces made with sherry, cream or tomato. The butter-only approach seems purer.
True lobster lovers may denounce the lazy approach. They’ll tell you that there is more succulence to be had when everyone gets a whole steamed lobster and the chance to pluck the sweet meat from every nook and cranny.
