939—Homard à l’Américaine

The first essential condition is that the lobster should be alive. Sever and slightly crush the claws, with the view of withdrawing their meat after cooking; cut the tail into sections; split the carapace in two lengthwise, and remove the queen (a little bag near the head containing some gravel). Put aside, on a plate, the intestines and the coral, which will be used in the finishing of the sauce, and season the pieces of lobster with salt and pepper.

Put these pieces into a sautépan containing one-sixth pint of oil and one oz. of butter, both very hot. Fry them over an open fire until the meat has stiffened well and the carapace is of a fine red colour.

Then remove all grease by tilting the sautépan on its side with its lid on; sprinkle the pieces of lobster with two chopped shallots and one crushed clove of garlic; add one-third pint of white wine, one-quarter pint of fish fumet, a small glassful of burnt brandy, one tablespoonful of melted meat-glaze, three small, fresh, pressed, and chopped tomatoes (or, failing fresh tomatoes, two tablespoonfuls of tomato purée), a pinch of concassed parsley, and a very little cayenne. Cover the sautépan, and set to cook in the oven for eighteen or twenty minutes.

This done, transfer the pieces of lobster to a dish; withdraw the meat from the section of the tail and the claws, and put them in a timbale; set upright thereon the two halves of the carapace, and let them lie against each other. Keep the whole hot.

Now reduce the cooking-sauce of the lobster to one-third pint; add thereto the intestines and the chopped coral, together with a piece of butter the size of a walnut; set to cook for a moment, and pass through a strainer.

Put this cullis into a vegetable-pan; heat it without letting it boil, and add, away from the fire, three oz. of butter cut into small pieces.

Pour this sauce over the pieces of lobster which have been kept hot, and sprinkle the whole with a pinch of concassed and scalded parsley.