Maine Lobster Rolls

I know I’ve been neglecting these pages, but I had a good reason: I’ve spent last weekend in Maine, reveling in sand dunes, salty air, and buckets of fresh seafood.

Somehow I’ve spent a decade on the East Coast without ever venturing that far north. My friends were amused at my newfound delight at the North Atlantic seashore, so different from the flashy Southern California beaches I grew up with.

I love everything about it – the wooden steps down to the beach, the waves of sea grass, the brambly magenta flowers, charmingly called beach plums, that crawl along the shoreline.

Most of all, I love lobster rolls. My appreciation for them, sparked by my first taste earlier this summer in Cape Cod, has blossomed into a full-out obsession.

Whole lobster itself I could take or leave. But stuff it in a warm, buttery roll with some lemon and herbs, with just a sprig of lettuce and a hint of mayo, and I’m in heaven.

Every lobster roll I’ve eaten so far, all consumed within earshot of the ocean, has been delicious in a different way. As with BBQ or New York pizza, there seem to be fiercely devoted camps about the details – Butter or mayo? Seasoned or simple?

I’m on a mission to try them all. Everywhere I go now I see lobster rolls – at the flea market, at my local fishmonger, at the nondescript cafe across the street. By the end of summer I plan to have a perfect recipe, to bring the taste of Maine beach back to Brooklyn.