Shucks Maine Lobster

Last Stop: Dresden, Germany

2012-05-18T15:37:50Z

The final chef in the EU Championship of the Shucks Maine Lobster World Series was located in a small town two hours by train from Berlin, in Dresden, Germany. Here, Chef Gerd Kastenmeier has a restaurant, rightly named Kastenmeier Restaurant located in a palace in the center of town.

]]> You should Google Chef Kastenmeier or visit www.Kastenmeier.de. We took some time before joining Chef Gerd for lunch to explore to town of Dresden, Germany. It is a town full of history and revitalization – as well as some of the most impressive buildings I have ever seen, all located down the side of the river that runs through the town. The old buildings sit beautifully between new buildings that have been built where the buildings destroyed used to stand. I am quite sure that more people traveled through town in horse and carriage than by car.

Now remember, Chef Gerd’s restaurant is located in a palace. After exploring the streets of Dresden, we set out to find Kastenmeier Restaurant. There are so many palaces and castles and churches and grand buildings located so close together here, it was almost difficult to find this specific palace, until at last I almost walked right into it. Surprised by the comfortable and relaxed atmosphere of what I had assumed to be more of a “palace” than the actually ambiance of bar and restaurant, Chef Gerd started us off with a tour and a little history of his palace restaurant. Explaining that his original restaurant had been destroyed in the great fire, he had discovered this gem and loved his new location in the palace dating back to the early 18th century. Showcasing exposed rock walls, juxtaposed by the wine glass clad tables with grey leather high back chair, I could not keep my eyes away from the fresh water (as Chef Gerd calls it, “sweet water”) and salt water tanks lining the ceiling. A familiar crustacean, Homarus Americanus, swimming above Chef Gerd’s kitchen!

Down to business, Chef Gerd insists this will only take 20 minutes. He begins by placing each lobster part onto his cutting board and organizing them by part; tail, claws, and knuckles. The tail he slices length wise and puts aside; the claws, he chops into little pieces; and the knuckles are diced even finer. “Scrambled eggs”, he declares, and I’m immediately intrigued as to what he defines as scrambled eggs. Opening the chicken egg carefully with a knife, he pours the content into a bowl and mixes (just like anyone of us would prepare scrambled eggs. Placing that aside, he works on the next part of the lobster, the knuckles. Sitting in a marinade he has a seaweed salad, which he adds the diced lobster to and mixed, “tartar”, he declares. Pulling out a long, rectangle plate, he gracefully sweeps a spoon of crème fraiche onto one end of the plate and puts the empty egg shell in a egg cup at the other end.

I am watching intently as three things are going on at once, the man of few words and one great big smile works.

From no where, he pulls out sausage casing - "and how can a German not prepare sausage in his own country?" he asks, still smiling. Carefully putting half the raw lobster tail into each casing and tying as one would a traditional sausage, part 3 of his trio is almost ready to be cooked.

Carefully sauteeing the lobster tail sausage, while scrambling lobster knuckle eggs, he decorates the middle section of his rectangle plate with a scoop of what I excitedly proclaim to be "sauerkraut!", "ahh, NO. Champagne'kraut!". The seared sausages are placed on top, while the scrambled eggs are returned to their now empty egg shell and topped with a careful spoon of caviar. The now marinated lobster tartare is placed on the creme fraiche, and from no where, a delicate quail egg has been opened in the same style as the chicken egg, except this has been fried and placed on top of the tartare - and the shell is dropped upside down for a subtle aesthetic garnish.

Voila, Chef Gerd is ready to serve! But not without champagne, he insists, one must enjoy champagne while eating lobster. Bringing us out to the formal dining room overlooking the patio, it's a gorgeous day in Dresden, with a lobster trio for lunch!

"Paris is always a good idea"

2012-05-18T15:19:14Z

Chef Three in the World Series Chef Competition was an early one. I mean, quite early. At 7:30am we arrived to Chef Gilles Choukron’s restaurant, MBC, tucked onto a perfect little Parisian street just a short walk from the Arc de Triumph.

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]]> I eat a lot of lobster, and sometimes for breakfast as well (it’s delicious if you bake it with eggs!) So I was quite excited to see what this morning would bring. Chef Gilles restaurant is called MBC, which we later learn to be the acronym for Mint, Basil and Coriander, his ‘signature’ combination of herbs.

Poking our heads in just a few minutes early, there’s not a soul around… could we be in the wrong restaurant? Are we here at the wrong time? Just long enough to consider we’re in the wrong place – a man walks up the stairs into the dining room, just as Mathieu walks in the front door. Mathieu is from ElaFood (our World Series EU sponsor) and has arranged for this breakfast meeting with Chef Gilles. First things first, we sit around over espressos while we all wake up and I explain to Chef Gilles exactly what the competition entails. Mathieu acts as our translator.

We walk back into his kitchen where the a few items are carefully placed on the counter. Including a bird. My first thought: Oh, no. He doesn’t know he is cooking lobster! Which is when I learn Chef Gilles’ secret. He says, the trick to cooking lobster is to include another meat with it. Insisting that the flavors react better when there are two meats, and of course, with his MBC combination on the plate!

Carefully boning the bird, our translator explains that it is a guinea fowl, a special bird. I am immediately impressed that Chef Gilles is carving the raw bird to get a perfect breast and not pulling a pre-cut piece of meat from the freezer. He delicately makes short knife cuts on the bird, ensuring that he is getting all the meat before he pulls away a perfect guinea fowl breast. He quickly pounds the meat flat before he opens his pouch of lobster. He is excited to work with the raw Maine lobster meat, and is even more excited, as he slices the meat carefully into small medallions, that he will be able to keep the meat raw.

With just a touch of salt and pepper, he places the lobster medallions onto the flattened meat and rolls it up. Placing the stuffed guinea fowl breast onto plastic wrap, he closes the ends and explains that he will poach the meat together in very warm water so that it cooks very slowly, ensuring that only the outside will cook and he will remove it before the lobster begins to cook.

While letting that sit, he turns back to his other ingredients, a plate full of fresh greens you can smell throughout the kitchen, his MBC combination. He looks a little nervous as he takes the baby leaves from the bottom side of the plants. Picking only the smallest herbs off the stem. It’s then, that his sous chef rushes into the kitchen with a stem of basil – he explains that the daily herb delivery does not come until 8:00 am, and since it is so early, his herbs have only just arrived – he is relieved as he smiles and picks the baby basil leaves off the stem. Tossing the herbs with julienne green radishes, he drizzles hazelnut oil over the greens and the excess falls below through the colander. From nowhere appears a pan of pureed green radishes. Now, it is almost time to plate the dish!

Simmering next to the guinea fowl and lobster, is a pan of guinea fowl gravy combined with lobster stock. Insisting we taste, it is delicious!

Putting together his final creation, Chef Gilles carefully decorates with his MCB + green radish salad, slices the guinea fowl with raw lobster into thick medallions, and glazes everything over with the delicious gravy of juices from both meat. In the quiet dining room, which you can feel the energy that it must hold during service hours, even at this early morning hour, we take a table and dig in.

Shucks in Segovia

2012-04-20T09:18:36Z

Day Two of the World Series Chef Competition brought us to the ancient city of Segovia, Spain. Just a short bus ride north of Madrid - and definitely worth the visit, even if you don't get to try Chef Oscar's carpaccio...

]]> I knew this was going to be an entertaining day when we discovered that Chef Oscar does not speak English; I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to practice my Spanish... Yo hablo espano (un pequito)... We joined him downstairs in his kitchen as he prepared, and explained in perfect Spanish, what it was that he was going to make for us today. I understood that he was going to make "lobster" and "carpaccio" (yum!) and was quite sure that I understood the words "ice cream"... but how could that be? Ice Cream and Lobster? Together? For lunch?

He was serious about it though. As he showed the process of how he rolled together lobster tails with the claws and knuckles, wrapped in saran wrap, and placed in the freezer for two days, he showcased the actual frozen lobster that he would prepare today's dish with. Just a dash of salt and pepper was all that he added to the lobster, insisting there was no need for any preservative or additive to hold the meat together - the natural juice from the meat would do that.

Using the meat slicer to carefully cut the frozen meat into small medallions, he decorated the plate beautifully with the raw, frozen Lobster meat. Putting the plate under heat for just a minute, he removed it and insisted I taste what he declared to be "ice cream"... and it was... tomato soup ice cream! He says this is a famous soup of the area, served cold (not generally frozen) - made of tomatoes, bread, olive oil and garlic, he makes the soup and then hand cranks it into ice cream. Placing a meticulously folded scoop on top of the carpaccio - it almost looks like a light pink lobster claw, which he carefully garnished with green onions (think: antenna) and delicate flowers.

After the excitement of raw lobster carpaccio, and ice cream, for lunch - we returned to our private dining room for the grand tasting. It was incredible! The flor de sol de ibiza crunched perfectly with the light taste of parsley oil drizzled on top. Raw Lobster. It was amazing.

Chef Oscar had no intentions of stopping there however, he insisted we try more of his favorite dishes. Following the lobster, he brought a plate of eight different kinds of mushrooms, topped with raw egg yolk and foie... Next, we ate a burger of lamb, served with the juice of the lamb and topped with almonds and pine nuts. As full as I was, he insisted we go on. The famous plate of the area is a roasted suckling pig, which we ate paired with his own vineyards wine. At this point, I was full and amazed at what Chef Oscar had prepared for us - but one more, he insisted. And possibly, my favorite dish yet: homemade lambs milk yogurt, with a dollop of red wine ice cream and a cube of white wine jello.

Chef Oscar had impressed us as he rolled us out of the restaurant and into the streets of his amazing town, Segovia. We walked off lunch as we cruised through ancient Roman Aqueducts from the 1st century, that were in use until the mid 19th century and looked out over yellow claw roofs for what seemed to be to the horizon.

Back on the bus to Madrid, another chef had done the trick and created something entirely new and astonishing using Shucks' Whole Shucked Maine Lobster! Tomorrow... it's back to Paris

Be sure to look at pictures at www.Facebook.com/ShucksMaineLobster

And visit Chef Oscar at http://www.restaurantemaracaibo.com/

When in Rome...

2012-04-18T00:51:55Z

Today was the first day of our World Series Chef Competition European Round.

We are traveling around Europe this week, meeting with chefs who are preparing one dish using our Whole Shucked Maine Lobster -- the winning dish will be announced on Tuesday April 24 at the European Seafood Show in Brussels.

]]> Until then, we are making our way back and forth across the continent - hopping from Paris to Rome, to Madrid, back to Paris, over to Dresden, Germany - before our final stop to announcing the European Champion in Brussels, Belgium.

Today, we visited with two incredible chefs in Rome. Not only were we looking at the Pantheon while eating our Sicilian inspired Lobster infused linguine, with four (yes, FOUR) type of Italian tomatoes, fresh basil, and of course, garlic with baked Shucks Maine Lobster from Chef Massimo Riccioli at la Rosetta.

After our amazing dish downtown, we headed to the top of the Hassler Roma Hotel. From the top floor, we could see across the city of Rome and from Chef Francesco Apreda's kitchen here, we marveled as he prepared his native Naples-Meditteranean inspired dish. Chef Apreda is a regular user of our Whole Shucked Lobster, but today, tried something new with it (which he says, he might have to put on the new Spring menu, it was that good!) With a fresh, micro-green salad with diced Lobster Knuckles, he pureed garlic, garnished with three types of potatoes, fresh mozzarella, pepper basil, and fresh blood oranges, the blood orange and basil infused Lobster looked amazing!

Be sure to check www.Facebook.com/ShucksMaine to see all the pictures from our travels and meet the chefs! We'll be posting everyday as we meet new chefs and experience what the world is doing with Shucks Maine Lobster!

Back to Maine!

2012-03-15T13:23:36Z

We've finally found our way across the bridge and up I-95, back to Richmond, Maine. The truck is unpacked and we're gearing up for our trip to Brussels. With the help from MANY, including our behind the scenes peeps, our four AMAZINGLY talented chefs, and our three, lobster-stuffed judges - our USA Championship World Series could not have been any more fun, or mouth-watering!

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Each chef brought to the table a lobster dish I had never seen before - and one I hope to see again soon! After a long day of preparing, eating, and judging, the final chef, Chef Chris Gould took home the Buoy prize after preparing his Miso butter basted lobster with sun choke puree, roasted maitake mushroom ragout and Lily bulbs.

Thank you again to all who were a part, who stopped by, or who rooted from the side lines!
Be sure to check out the pics @ www.Facebook.com/ShucksMaineLobster

The Chefs are Coming!

2012-03-10T15:59:16Z

The day is almost here! The booth has been set up (booth #2353) at the International Boston Seafood Show, the lights are on - and I think people are getting hungry!

We have four amazing chefs traveling from all corners of the country today to arrive just in time for the doors to open at 10am tomorrow, Sunday March 11th!

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From the west, we bring Chef Pascal Sauton of Milwaukie Kitchn + Wine in Portland, Oregon
From the south, hails Chef David Quintana of Kobe's Kreations in Charlotte, NC
From the midwest, we bring Chef David MacLennan of Latitute 41 in Columbus, Ohio
and from the home turf of Boston (originally from Maine), Chef Chris Gould of Uni Sashimi Bar

The chefs are coming!!! Save the date: Sunday, March 11th, at the Boston Seafood Show, Booth 2353 at the Visitors and Convention Center. Announcing our first guest chef for Round Two of the Shucks Maine Lobster World Series, Chef Chris Gould of Uni will be showing off his skills at our exhibition kitchen. Sashimi Chef Gould’s specialty is crafting the freshest seafood from Tokyo’s Tskuji market and local New England fishermen into inventive Japanese fusion cuisine, pushing the envelope, challenging the flavor profiles and presentations of traditional sashimi. We can only imagine the wonders he’s cooking up with our Shucks Maine Lobster fresh, raw lobster meat. Any hints, Chef Gould? Sorry, he’s exercising his right to remain silent – and keep the competition guessing! www.unisashimi.com [Gould jpeg image]

Chef David MacLennan of Columbus, Ohio’s Latitude 41 restaurant signs on for the Shucks Maine Lobster World Series March 11th at the International Boston Seafood Show. As Executive Chef at Latitude 41, he strives to strike a balance, incorporating as many locally grown vegetables and meats into his menu as possible, but acknowledging Ohio’s distance from the sea by using only the finest fresh product from purveyors like Shucks Maine Lobster. www.latitude41restaurant.com [MacLennan jpeg image]

Chef Pascal Sauton, owner of Milwaukie Kitchen and Wine in Portland, OR, has been chosen as the West Coast representative in the Shucks Maine Lobster World Series to be held March 11 at the International Boston Seafood Show. Sauton is a Parisian transplant whose experience includes stints at renowned Parisian caterer Tentation’s New York branch and the Fourth Story Restaurant in Denver, CO before moving west to open the beloved Carafe restaurant in Portland and Milwaukie Kitchen, which he created with his daughter, Prunelle. He is also the 2006 winner of the Seafood Oregon Chef Competition.“My dish will be something with a French foundation,” said Chef Sauton, “perhaps incorporating Oregon ingredients like Oregon truffles, an East meets West dish using products from both coasts.” www.milwaukiekitchen.com [Sauton jpeg]

Fourth and final Shucks Maine Lobster World Series contestant: Chef David Quintana. After helming well-known Charlotte destination restaurants Salara and Four Moons interspersed with stints on both coasts at places like WD-50, Qintana opened his upscale farm-to-fork venue, Kobe’s Kreations, at the Atherton Market in Charlotte’s fashionable South End, several years ago. His Boston plan of attack? “I have a different approach from the other chefs, I think,” he told us. “I’m going to take an old classic, a lobster roll, take all the ingredients, deconstruct and reconstruct them, and give it to the judges in a way they haven’t had it before.” www.kobeskreations.com [Quintana jpeg]

Be Our Friend!

2012-03-08T04:20:39Z

We've finally made it to Facebook!

Come find us and Friend us so you can stay up to date on all the happenings at Shucks. We'll be posting pictures and updates all weekend as we travel to Boston to host our four chefs on Sunday in the World Series. On Monday, Chef Andy will be serving all of our favorite Shucks Maine Lobster dishes -- hope to see you there! Booth #2353

www.Facebook.com/ShucksMaineLobster

There's a lot going on!

2012-03-08T04:18:19Z

We're gearing up for the International Boston Seafood Show this weekend!

If you're in town, please stop by our Booth #2353 to say hello! On Sunday, we'll be hosting Round Two of our Shucks Maine Lobster World Series. This time, we have four awesome chefs traveling from all corners of the country to compete using our Whole Shucked Lobster to create a winning dish!

I think they said it best:

2011-09-20T03:21:32Z

We were lucky enough to spend some quality time with the writer and the photographer from The Boston Globe here at the plant in Richmond, Maine a couple of weeks ago. We've been anxiously awaiting to read what they compiled when it came to press.

Read the article (below) to discover the story of how Shucks Maine Lobster came to be, how we make Maine's laziest lobster, and how one of our favorite Maine chefs feels about cooking with our Shucks Raw Lobster Meat. (And also, their take on our own CEO, John Hathaway).

The Boston Globe did us well, and even included a photograph of John himself, where he usually is, manning the helm of the Big Mother Shucker.

As they say, we make the laziest of lobsters, read more to discover what happens behind the scene!

Click this link to read for yourself:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2011/09/17/the-laziest-lobster/oQvtirg8SvtYNlaUi66AiJ/story.xml

Watch Chef Patrick Prepare his Winning Dish!

2011-09-08T06:19:16Z

It's Official!

Our very first YouTube video has been uploaded onto our Shucks YouTube page. Watch as Chef Patrick of Chez Patrick prepares his winning dish. Here, he is tenderizing the Shucks Lobster Tail before he fills it with blanched spinach rolled with hazelnut spread grapefruit peel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p67MoEfJ5zk

Five Chefs Compete- One Winner Announced

2011-09-08T04:14:23Z

After two days of watching over the shoulders of incredible chefs from around the city of Hong Kong prepare creative and mouth watering dishes using Shucks' Whole Shucked Lobster, a winner was chosen! As our Maine judge, Stephanie Nadeau from The Lobster Company, said, she wishes that all the chefs could be chosen as winners, they were all that good! And this is coming from a woman who deals with lobster on a daily basis!

We started off Day One with two chefs, Chef Andrew Lee from the Novotel Hong Kong Century Hotel was the official starting chef of the Four Rounds of Chef of the Year championship. Following Chef Andrew, young Chef Daniel Tam, Executive Sous Chef at Aqua Restaurant Group, stepped up to the stage. Chef Daniel was excited he said, he has only been cooking for eight years and this was his first professional chef competition.

Our three judges were all still excited to be eating lobster for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Joining us were Adele Wong, the Lifestyle & Dining Editor from Hong Kong Magazine; Tracy Griffith, Corporate Executive Chef at New Gem Foods; and Stephanie Nadeau, President of The Lobster Company (from our own hometown of Kennebunkport, Maine!).

Day Two started on time and Chef Patrick Goubier took the stage. A well known French chef who has spent the past couple of decades living and cooking here in Hong Kong, he owns and is Executive Chef at the renowned Chez Patrick. (Check out our interview with Chef Patrick as he talks about how he enjoys living in Hong Kong - and working with Shucks' Whole Shucked Lobsters).

Up next was Chef Kelvin Pun, Executive Sous Chef at Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers. A skilled and dedicated chef, he moved swiftly across the stage as he whipped up his own pumpkin gnocchi to accompany his Whole Shucked Lobster dish.

The final chef to take the stage was Chef Mak Kam Kui, as Executive Chef of Western Cuisine at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, he said that sometimes he dresses up in costume as Chef Mickey, or Chef Goofy, but today, he insisted that we just stick with the casual Chef Mak. His dish looked to be dancing off the plate - and after sneaking a bite on the side, I could understand how the judges were having such a difficult time choosing just one winner!

After the cooking ended and the judges submitted their final score card, the totals were added, and I held the secret of the winner. Chef Andrew was so excited to discover who was the Shucks Maine Lobster World Series - Asia, winner and who would be traveling "across the ocean", as he put it, to be joining the winners from the upcoming rounds in Portland for the World Series winner - he came back again the second day for the announcement of the winner.

The scores were close for all the chefs. So close, in fact, there was a tie for Third Place! Both Chef Mak and Chef Kelvin Pun tied; just ahead of them, Chef Andrew Lee came in Second Place. The winner of the Shucks Maine Lobster World Series - Asia... was Chef Patrick Goubier!

All the chefs were excited by the news, as they received their Shucks Maine Lobster hats and honorary Shucks Lobster Buoy (they couldn't quite believe that we had traveled all the way from Maine to deliver an authentic buoy... but neither had customs).

Check back soon as we continue to upload videos of the chefs preparing their amazing dishes and the announcement of the winners, here in Hong Kong!

Headed for Hong Kong!

2011-08-18T17:20:08Z

Shucks Maine Lobster World Series!

Round One of the upcoming four World Series competitions is official. We are headed for Hong Kong!

It's always been at the table of discussions of things we'd love to do, ideas that excite us, and somehow keep floating around us here in Maine... To have a competition, world wide, of amazing chefs - working to create the absolute, most perfect Shucks Maine Lobster dish.

Next month, Round One will happen at the Asian Seafood Exposition in Hong Kong. Six chefs from Asia will compete to win the First Round -- the winner of this round will come to Portland, Maine next August to compete against the winners from Europe, USA, and our Maine Chef host.

Next month in Hong Kong, Chefs will be competing against each other using one of Shucks' favorite products: our Whole Shucked Maine Lobster. Each chef will prepare for four judges a dish of their choice. The judges will decide which dish is best based on certain criteria and the winner will be awarded the Golden Buoy!

Learn more about our participating chefs at http://www.asianseafoodexpo.com/11/public/enter.aspx

Thanks for all the help from Diversified Communications!

Bacon Wrapped Lobster Tail

2011-03-21T17:18:38Z

Bacon makes everything better, so they say -- so try this: Bacon Wrapped Lobster Tails!

Delicious bite sized chunks of raw, Maine Lobster Tails - wrapped tightly in a layer of All Natural Bacon.
Easily baked to perfection. Not only that, but check out our original Turkey Bacon Wrapped Lobster Tail!

All Natural Turkey bacon wrapped around bite sized Lobster Tail!

Split Maine Lobster

2011-03-21T17:13:11Z

Shucks' new favorite way to enjoy lobster. Best right off the grill, or try it stuffed with our secret recipe stuffing!

IBSS New Product Competition FINALIST 2010

2010-03-04T21:03:52Z

Shucks Maine Lobster is proud to present one of the tastiest ways to eat Maine Lobster yet! Our Maine Lobster Tempura was just selected as one of four finalists at the International Boston Seafood Show in the New Product Competition "Foodservice" category. Come visit us at Booth #1515 to check out our Maine Lobster Tempura!

]]> These "Certified Maine Lobster" Claws come fully battered and IQF for the ultimate convenience in the food service sector. The Claws are raw, NOT cooked. The batter is deliciously light. Surprise your customers with a fun and simple way to eat Maine Lobster without the fuss and mess! Shucks Maine Lobster "Tempura" is definitely Lobster that is "too sexy for it's shell".