Lobster Roll Rolls

[Holly Moore]

I'm on record on my site objecting to a lobster roll served on a round hamburger bun. I much prefer the New England style top cut hot dog bun, toasted inside and out.

I got an email today from an old time downeaster who took me to task:

... I'm not a fan of lobster rolls on non-traditional round buns. I go back a long ways on eating Lobster rolls, and the 'hot dog' roll is a new upstart, a poor excuse for a fine Lobster roll.  The round hamburg type is what we always found along the coast of Maine in the 'old' days, toasted and crunchy.. down with the hot dog bun.

Now I'm not sure.

[Jason Perlow]

Its my understanding that the roll isnt as much an issue as the preparation of the lobster -- whether it is the mayonnaise-based cold salad type, or the warm meat tossed in melted butter on a toasted bun type that you find in Connecticut.

Personally, I think they are both valid, but I prefer the Connecticut version.

[Holly Moore]

Anyone from Maine does not consider that an issue. If the lobster meat is served warm it may be tasty, but it is not a lobster roll. A lobster sandwich, maybe.

I'm with the downeasters. Part of what makes a lobster roll so good to my taste is the contrast of the chilled lobster meat and the warm, toasted and buttered bun.

[Chris Amirault]

I can vouch for your downeaster's information on the old-school round buns. And I think it wasn't just coastal Maine but inland as well.

When I was a kid (late 60s, early 70s), we would get our lobster "rolls" at Bolley's in Waterville, a hot dog joint with great fries and excellent root beer that has since gone skidding down a steep hill. Back in the day, the lobster was basically meat-n-mayo, not much else (as a kid, I hated the crunch of celery and onion), and it was slapped between two buns that were buttered (oleo-ed, more likely, but I digress) and grilled a good while. I also seem to remember a lot of black pepper, but that could be gilding the lily.

I'm salivating now and therefore must go eat a feeble substitute, but you get the idea.

[Fred]

Growing up in Boothbay ME a lobster roll was cold lobster a little mayo and lemon on whatever rolls/bread was in the house, but typically it was a sandwich bun. The one constant was the toasting that bread with a bit of butter in a pan. Now when we eat lobster there is just nothing left to make a sandwich with the next day, even if we buy an extra with every intention of making sandwiches out of it.

[Daniel]

"About 1966-67 Fred Terry, owner of the Lobster Roll Restaurant...in Amagansett, New York, produced a recipe containing mayonnaise, celery, and seasonings; mixed with fresh lobster meat placed on a heated hot-dog roll that has come to be known as the "Long Island (New York) lobster roll"...According to Carolyn Wyman...lobster meat drenched in butter and served on a hamburger or hot dog roll has long been available at seaside eateries in Connecticut and may well have originated at a restaurant named Perry's in Milford, where owner Harry Perry concocted it for a regular customer named Ted Hales sometime in the 1920s. Furthermore, Perry's was said to have a sign from 1927 to 1977 reading "Home of the Famous Lobster Roll."

---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 188)

[Holly Moore]

Greetings Governor Baldacci,

In his otherwise excellent treatise, "The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink", John Mariani claims "...lobster meat drenched in butter and served on a hamburger or hot dog roll has long been available at seaside eateries in Connecticut and may well have originated at a restaurant named Perry's in Milford, where owner Harry Perry concocted it for a regular customer named Ted Hales sometime in the 1920s. Furthermore, Perry's was said to have a sign from 1927 to 1977 reading "Home of the Famous Lobster Roll."

Say it isn't so, Governor Baldacci.  As this absurdity his come to light during your administration, I urge you to take whatever action is necessary to dispel this ugly rumor, this blemish on the State of Maine's heritage and prove, once and for all, that the lobster roll did indeed originate in Maine.  I'm thinking a blue ribbon committee or a senate investigation.

Thank you. 

Sent 20 July, 2005

[Daniel]

Excellent.. The man is going all the way to the top with this one..

[TPO]

Speaking as someone who will fight to the death over who invented the whoopie pie, I must say it would not surprise me if Maine did not invent the lobster roll. Decades ago, many Mainers still considered lobster to be "peasant food" and we may have been behind other New England states in learning how to market said peasant food to eager tourists.

Now, if the question were who perfected the lobster roll, the answer would have to be Maine.

As for the buns, I only know of lobster rolls (and clam rolls and shrimp rolls and scallop rolls and so on) as being served on traditional New England hot dog rolls. I can only vouch for the last 30 years or so, but I have never eaten a lobster roll on a hamburger bun. It's always been either a hot dog roll or a homemade bun.

[Daniel]

Speaking as someone who will fight to the death over who invented the whoopie pie,

←

Now you have a p-dutch boys interest with this statement .. Who do you say invented the whoopie pie..

[LindaK]

Anyone from Maine does not consider that an issue.  If the lobster meat is served warm it may be tasty, but it is not a lobster roll.  A lobster sandwich, maybe.

I'm with the downeasters.  Part of what makes a lobster roll so good to my taste is the contrast of the chilled lobster meat and the warm, toasted and buttered bun.

If we're voting, I second this description. Light on the mayo and celery, please, but theoretically, it is supposed to be about leftover lobster. Get your butter from the toasted roll.

Though I share Fred's problem...when was the last time you ever had leftover lobster??

[SuperLuckyCat]

I won't claim to be an expert since I am originally from way western Mass., but I have been around a lot of slef-annoited experts in MA and ME and consensus is that it is only meat and mayo on the NE style hot dog roll buttered and grilled. Anything else, especially something crunchy, would create panic and mayhem.

I live in Houston now but last week lobsters were on sale for $9.99 a pound at a local store so I bought 2 1.75 pounders, cooked them, cooled, roughly chopped claw and tail meat, (sucked on the legs while still hot -- ooooo that sounds durty!), and then mixed the chilled meat with mayo, a little fresh tarragon, and some lemon zest. I cut a sliver off both sides of regular hotdog rolls so there would be maximum butter absorbtion. My family would have disapproved of me trying to make it "fancy," but heavens it was good, with a little french white burgundy...

There's no such thing as leftover lobster, you have to have a lobster roll main event.