Ever wonder what lobsters eat, or why they are red? How about the right way to cook them and what that green stuff is? Here’s some interesting facts about our favorite summer meal.
We love to eat them, but what do they eat? Lobsters crawl around the bottom of the sea hunting for food at night. Although they will eat dead food, they subsist primarily on crabs, clams, fish, mussels and sea urchins - they eat over 100 different types of seafood and plants. They live in rocky areas off the coast and hide in the rocks and seaweed during the day and forage at night. Lobsters can live to be 140 years or more and can travel 100 miles in a year!
Once interesting thing about lobsters is their coloring. Of course, when we picture them we think of them as being red but that is only after they are cooked. When alive they are greenish brown, blue, yellow and even white. There actually are some reddish colored ones too, but the bright red that we think of is only after they are cooked.
Lobsters molt (shed their shell) in order to grow. Lobsters can also regenerate their claws, legs and antennae, but did you know that they can drop a leg or claw at will and walk away to regenerate another one later?
And what about cooking? Should you boil them or is that cruel? Contrary to popular belief they do not have vocal cords so they won't scream when you plunge them into boiling water! And the best way to cook them is to boil or steam them, but don’t overcook or the meat will be rubbery.
Inside a lobster is some interesting stuff. Aside from the sweet white meat, lobsters have other strange substances in unusual colors! You may find that when you first open your lobster, there is a white goopy stuff between the meat and the shells - this is their blood (it is clear while they are alive and turns white when cooked). It has no taste and is harmless so you can either wash it off or eat it!
And what about the icky green stuff inside the body? That's the lobsters liver or digestive system. Commonly called tomalley, it is safe to eat but since it is the liver it would most likely be the waste basket for all the toxins circulating through the creature so you may want to just discard it and move on to the good stuff.
And the red stuff? A female lobster carries it's unfertilized eggs, or roe, under the tail. These are a bright red or coral color and are safe to eat and even considered a delicacy by some.
Lee Dobbins is a writer for Online Gourmet Foods where you canfind out more about gourmet foods and seafood.