This essay is about a young girl and a family who wanted to start a new tradition at Christmas time after the loss of her grandmother. This is telling about how a young girl found her new tradition and new favorite food while still loving her grandmother and keeping her in mind.
Lobster Recipe
6 cups of water into a large pan and bring to a boil
Once at a boil put lobster head first in
Cook 20-25 minutes until the antenna cleanly snaps
Melt stick of butter
Take lobster meat out of shell
Don’t forget to take the vein out and green stuff
Soak in butter
Enjoy!
My Favorite Meal Essay
Emilee Soucie
Professor Jesse Miller
English 110-H6
07 October 2018
The Lobster: My favorite Meal
What does food mean to someone? Food is nutrition, food is culture, and to some, food is a way of life. The food people eat can show the specific culture or region in which they come from. It can also hold a significant meaning to people. A lot of people cook to just cook, but some have a passion for cooking and put meaning into it. My homemade dish, that is my favorite meal, is lobster. Lobster isn’t found everywhere in the world. Some places treat lobster as a delicacy. It is found mainly in the New England region of the United States but can also be found in Florida. Lobster is mainly found in the colder portions of the ocean. This meal really isn’t considered a homemade meal, but my family and I usually only eat this meal when we are at home together. This meal holds a significance to us which I will explain in detail later. My homemade dish has great significance to me and my family, it is my favorite meal, and it is important in my life.
Lobster is my favorite meal for many delicious reasons. This crustacean is caught in traps that are placed on the bottom of the ocean by lobsterman, the lobsterman then pulls them out of the ocean. Lobsters have a brown/green shell. There are the occasional blue, orange and white lobsters. These are very rare. Depending on the time of year, they can be hard or soft shell. Soft shell is my personal favorite because it is easier to access the meat out of the shell. They are then transported from the ocean to either your local grocery store, seafood store, or to a seafood restaurant where you often pick out the one you want to eat. Once we bring them home, we prepare the kitchen with many pots and pans for our little dinner. This meal means family time in our household. We begin cooking by boiling the water, then throwing the lobster into the water head first and hoping they don’t fight back or squeal, but there are no special ingredients when making this meal. It’s just water, lobster, and a pinch of salt. Lobster pounds/restaurants often cook them in seaweed. It takes approximately 25 minutes for the lobster to cook. A good way to test to see if they are done is to snap the antenna. If it snaps cleanly, then the lobster is done. The lobster is a bright reddish color when done. Normally we eat corn on the cob and steamed clams with this meal, therefore we have multiple pots going. When the lobster is officially done, it smells like an ocean inside in house. This meal tends to be on the pricier side. They do occasionally go on sale for some different reasons. I personally could make this meal, but I choose not to for personal reasons. My mother has always been willing to do the job. I asked her if it was her favorite meal why or why not. She said, “No. It’s one of my top meals, it’s not because I tend to enjoy Italian meals more and my favorite meal is eggplant parmigiana because it tastes really good.”
This meal holds great significance in my life. This meal represents Christmas and summer memories. I usually only get this meal twice a year on special occasions and maybe if the price is reasonable, more than that. Christmas, though, is when it holds an important time to me. We eat lobster, clams, corn on the cob, crab cakes, and maybe an additional item depending on the year. This tradition began when I was in sixth grade. This was the first Christmas after my grandmother died, and I found it too difficult to eat the meals that we always ate when she was still alive, which was prime rib. She would always come over Christmas eve and stay the night until we had dinner on Christmas day. After that first year we didn’t have her, it became too unbearable to even continue the tradition of beef, so we switched to lobster. We kept this tradition going in memory of her. My mother and I couldn’t handle eating the same meal of beef after she was gone. As my mother says, “It makes me think of family time because the only time we have it is when we are all together.” The moments that I attach with this dish are always happy. I have never been sad while I was eating lobster. This dish brings around happiness and reminds me of family.
This recipe, although very easy, is very complicated to some. Many people don’t even cook lobster in their homes because they don’t want to deal with cooking them, or the smell of them cooking. They are squirmy little sea bugs that fight sometimes when you are going to put them in the boiling water. You want to start the water at a low boil when you put these little monsters in. Once they are in you hope that they don’t squirm and burn you with the water that they splash out. Then you wait approximately 25 minutes until they are done. As said earlier a good way to test to see if they are done is to snap the antenna. Once they are done, you drain the water, and you get a nice red lobster that when you crack it open is so chewy and delectable. Of course, you must have the melted butter on the side to soak the delicious white meat in.
This dish is my favorite meal but holds a lot of ethical issues. Many believe that the cooking of lobster is painful for these animals. But as some, my mom is one, believe “everyone needs to eat in life.” We eat beef, pork and chicken with the same outcome as the lobster. Although lobster may be expensive at times, it is a must try for everyone. It is an easy recipe and tastes delicious. The lobster holds many great memories for me, and this is why I love this meal.
