Maine Lobster Salad

Simple and unimpeachable, Maine lobster salad treats a luxury ingredient with restraint — a light mayonnaise dressing, fresh celery for crunch, and nothing to distract from the sweet cold-water Atlantic lobster.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 680g (1½ lbs) cooked lobster meat (from about 2 x 600g / 1.3 lb live lobsters), chilled
• 3 stalks celery, finely diced (about 120g / ½ cup)
• 3 tbsp (45ml) good-quality mayonnaise
• 1 tsp (5ml) fresh lemon juice, plus extra to taste
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• Pinch of white pepper
• 2 tbsp fresh chives, finely snipped
• 1 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves, chopped (optional)
• 4 top-split hot dog buns or brioche rolls, toasted in butter
• Butter lettuce leaves, to serve

Instructions

1. Steam or boil the lobsters for 10–12 minutes until bright red. Plunge immediately into an ice-water bath for 5 minutes to stop cooking. Pick the meat from the claws, knuckles, and tails. Cut into rough 2.5cm (1-inch) chunks.
2. Refrigerate the lobster meat until fully chilled, at least 1 hour.
3. In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, and white pepper. Fold in the chilled lobster, celery, chives, and tarragon (if using). Taste and adjust lemon and salt. The dressing should barely coat the lobster — not smother it.
4. Toast the buns in a little butter in a skillet over medium heat until golden on the cut sides.
5. Line each bun with a butter lettuce leaf, then mound the lobster salad on top. Serve immediately while the bun is still warm and the lobster cold.

Cook's Notes: The contrast of warm buttered bun and cold lobster filling is what separates a great lobster roll from a mediocre one — do not fill the buns in advance. Knuckle meat has excellent flavor and is less expensive; ask your fishmonger for knuckle-and-claw packs if whole lobsters are cost-prohibitive. Do not add celery seed, Old Bay, or anything else — true Maine style relies on restraint.