Homard Grillé

Homard Grillé (grilled lobster) teaches a simple restraint: the grill is there to finish the lobster, not cook it from raw. Give it a three-parts poach in court-bouillon first, and the flesh stays pearly and tender while butter and fierce heat bronze the cut surface. Skip that protection and the outside tightens before the claws are properly hot.

The original kitchen assumed a court-bouillon pot already at hand, a saucier drawing from stock never off the fire, and a salamander waiting above the pass. At home, you need one wide pot, prepared Devilled sauce Escoffier warmed gently, and either a hot covered grill or the fiercest broiler your oven owns. Four small lobsters replace the brigade's open-ended service quantity because they poach evenly, split cleanly, and still fit one home grill. One cook, one stove, one evening.

The napkin-lined serving dish and elaborate curled-parsley border are service scaffolding, so a warm platter and a loose ring of parsley take their place. The three-parts poach, lengthwise split, melted butter, fierce final grilling, cracked claws, and sharp sauce are the dish, and they stay. Watch the center of the tail meat: it should still be translucent when you split it, because the grill gets the last word.