Scolloped Lobster is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic dish of lobster meat cooked in white sauce that's thickened with egg yolks, coloured with lobster coral, packed back in the lobster shell, coated with fried breadcrumbs and grilled before serving. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Scolloped Lobster.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Scolloped Lobster that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé Francatelli's 1861 volume, The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
No. 285.—SCOLLOPED LOBSTER.
Split a fresh-boiled lobster into halves, by cutting it through with a strong knife from head to tail ; take out all the meat without damaging the shell ; trim away the ragged edges from the two halves of the body-shel1, and likewise from the tail and claw-pieces ; let all the meat be cut into small scollops or squares, and reserved in a plate. Pound the pith, coral, and spawn of the lobster in a mortar with a small bit of butter; rub it through a sieve, and put this into a stew pan with a little white sauce of any kind, a little anchovy, nutmeg, cayenne, and lemon-juice, and having stirred the sauce over the fire to boil for a few minutes, add the lobster and the yolks of two raw eggs; stir again over the fire to make it hot ; fill the prepared lobster-shells with this ; cover them over with fried bread-crumbs ; salamander them, and dish up on a folded napkin, with fried parsley.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 freshly-boiled lobster
1 tbsp butter
80ml white sauce
1 tsp anchovy essence
freshly-grated nutmeg, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 egg yolks
fried breadcrumbs (about 200g)
fried parsley, to garnish
Method:
Split the lobster into halves (cut it through with a strong knife from head to tail). Remove the meat (do this without damaging the shell, as you will need this later) then trim the shell halves neatly. Also remove the meat from the tail and claw pieces. Cube the meat and set aside.
Add the pith, coral and spawn of the lobster to a mortar and pound with the butter then rub through a fine-meshed sieve. Scrape this into a pan then add the white sauce, anchovy essence, nutmeg, cayenne pepper and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes then stir in the lobster pieces and the egg yolks.
Cook gently until hot then take off the heat and use the mixture to fill the prepared lobster halves. Cover the top with fried breadcrumbs then place under a hot grill and cook until golden brown. Arrange on a serving plate, garnish with fried parsley and bring to the table.
