Lobster Salad is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic salad of lobster meat with salad greens, lettuces and endives tossed with a Dijon mustard, egg yolk and anchovy sauce vinaigrette. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Lobster Salad.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook.
Original Recipe
272. INGREDIENTS.—1 hen lobster, lettuces, endive, small salad (whatever is in season), a little chopped beetroot, 2 hard-boiled eggs, a few slices of cucumber. For dressing, equal quantities of oil and vinegar, 1 teaspoonful of made mustard, the yolks of 2 eggs; cayenne and salt to taste; 3 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce. These ingredients should be mixed perfectly smooth, and form a creamy-looking sauce.
Mode.—Wash the salad, and thoroughly dry it by shaking it in a cloth. Cut up the lettuces and endive, pour the dressing on them, and lightly throw in the small salad. Mix all well together with the pickings from the body of the lobster; pick the meat from the shell, cut it up into nice square pieces, put half in the salad, the other half reserve for garnishing. Separate the yolks from the whites of 2 hard-boiled eggs; chop the whites very fine, and rub the yolks through a sieve, and afterwards the coral from the inside. Arrange the salad lightly on a glass dish, and garnish, first with a row of sliced cucumber, then with the pieces of lobster, the yolks and whites of the eggs, coral, and beetroot placed alternately, and arranged in small separate bunches, so that the colours contrast nicely.
Average cost, 3s. 6d. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable from April to October; may be had all the year, but salad is scarce and expensive in winter.
Note.—A few crayfish make a pretty garnishing to lobster salad.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 hen lobster, boiled until cooked
2 small lettuces, shredded
1 endive, shredded
200g mixed salad greens
4 tbsp beetroot, chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs
24 slices of cucumber
For the Dressing:
6 tbsp oil
6 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 egg yolks
salt and cayenne pepper, to taste anchovy sauce, to taste
Method:
Whisk together the oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, egg yolks and anchovy sauce until smooth. Season to taste with the salt and cayenne pepper then set aside.
Wash the salad greens, lettuces and endives then dry thoroughly. Combine the lettuces and endive in a bowl, pour over the dressing and toss to combine. Add the mixed salad greens and toss once more. Remove all the meat from the lobster shell. Toss any small fragments with the salad.
Cut the large pieces of meat into dice. Mix half of these with the salad and reserve the remainder to garnish. Separate the whites and the yolks of the eggs. Chop the whites very finely and rub the yolks through a sieve. Also press the coral from the lobster through a sieve.
Arrange the salad in a glass serving dish then cover with the cucumber slices and then the diced lobster. Top with separate piles made from the yolks and the whites of the eggs then the lobster coral and the beetroot so that the colours contrast with one another.
