Hold the mayo
Atlantic Fish Co.’s chef Dan Billo shares how to prepare lobster
Step away from the mayonnaise, and no one will get hurt. Many of us New Englanders have a tendency to bury the flavor of our regional clawed showstopper, suffocating it with mayo and jamming it into a hot dog bun or drowning it in melted butter.
Don’t get us wrong: We’ll giddily scarf down an overdressed lobster roll after any beach day. However, we consulted seafood expert Dan Billo, executive chef at Atlantic Fish Co., to discover other ways to consume this prized shellfish.
“The lobstermen are getting beat up pretty bad,” Billo said of the current need to support New England fishing. “Not a lot of people are going out to eat lobster. They’ve already been having issues with exports going to China because of the tariffs. It’s been a onetwo punch.”
“If you don’t want to eat the lobster plain with maybe just a little squeezed lemon, you can still lighten it up a bit, especially for summertime,” he added.
For Billo, the best course of action when treating this delicate ingredient is to toss it with a bright vinaigrette and fresh herbs.
“One of my personal favorites is doing a light lemon and tarragon vinaigrette,” he said. “The tarragon and the lemon complement the sweetness of the lobster, so you’re not just covering it up with the muddiness of mayonnaise. It accentuates and lifts up the flavor instead.”
Continuing on that wavelength of typical French flavors, Billo also suggested celebrating the lobster by making it the center of a salade nicoise.
“Usually a nicoise is with tuna, but we changed it up a bit,” he said. “Classically, it has green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, nicoise olives and lettuce. Instead of the potatoes … we do a cold butterbean, which has a great creaminess to it.”
“Then, we use that same lemon-tarragon vinaigrette to dress the whole thing, so it really pulls it all together,” he added. “I personally like picholine olives because they’re my favorite, but you can use nicoise, Kalamata or black ones, if that’s all you’ve got.”
Then, there’s probably the most summery method of cooking lobster: throwing it straight on the grill.
“Really, the best way to do it is to buy a fresh lobster, still alive, split it down the middle,” Billo said. “You could use that same vinaigrette or just a little bit of lemon juice and olive oil to paint the cut side. Then, you just throw it in on the grill for 10 or 15 minutes until it cooks through.”
“It’s awesome, especially in the summertime when you have the grill out anyway,” he added. “Have some steaks and then, if you really want to impress the people at the backyard barbecue, do a little surf and turf on the grill.”