WE CAN’T SAVE YOU by Tom Ricks: Future Lobster with Pernod Sauce

Food shows up a lot in my novel, We Can’t Save You. In one scene, Native Americans conducting a protest march down the coast of Maine stop to catch eels in a freshwater stream. That evening, they roast them over a campfire. “Indian bacon,” comments one appreciatively. (Just to be clear, in Maine, some tribes refer to themselves as Indians. Just look at the seal of the Penobscot Nation). I’ve eaten eel in Chinese restaurants, cooked Shanghai-style in a spicy black bean sauce, but I’ve never had them as the marchers do in the story, wrapped in onion grass and then roasted over an open fire.

In another scene, there is an aside about serving lobster tails in a creamy Pernod sauce with fiddleheads. I put that in the story for fun, because I was contemplating what would be the “Maine-est” possible dish to cook. In the book, I have it served over buttered couscous, but on reflection, it would be even “Maine-er” to serve it over mashed Maine potatoes. I think grilled lobster is tastier than boiled—it’s like the difference between roasted potatoes and boiled ones.

I confess I have never actually cooked this dish. But I hope to do so this coming summer, when I return to the Maine coast. Penobscot Bay in August and early September may be the most beautiful place on the planet. This is my favorite way to cook lobster, especially for kids who have just witnessed the process of catching them. I’ll use this recipe—my own version adapted from several others—when I make this dish.

Thomas E. Ricks

 

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Servings

4 servings

Prep Time

45 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Print Recipe

WE CAN’T SAVE YOU by Tom Ricks: Future Lobster with Pernod Sauce

Grill your lobsters with these instructions: https://www.bookclubcookbook.com/author-recipe/everyone-knows-but-you-by-thomas-e-ricks-toms-grilled-maine-lobster-rolls/

Use your favorite recipes for mashed potatoes and sauteed fiddlehead ferns.

  • 3 1 1/2 pound) lobsters
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large shallot, peeled and finely diced
  • 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 2-3 sprigs Italian flat leaf parsley, finely chopped.
  • ¼ cup Pernod
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • 1 cup half and half or heavy cream
  • Crracked black pepper or red pepper flakes
  1. First, catch and grill your lobsters (see note).
  2. Pick the lobster meat. Put it aside. Do not refrigerate, because you are going to use it soon. While the cooked lobster meat is cooling, make mashed potatoes and sautee fiddlehead ferns (see note).
  3. Melt butter In a large saucepan over low heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook until they are soft. Add Pernod, and let it simmer for a minute or two.
  4. Stir half and half or heavy cream. Add salt, black pepper and, if you are like me, a shake of red pepper flakes.
  5. When the sauce is warmed through, stir in your still-warm lobster meat. When the lobster meat is warmed through, ladle it onto plates over mashed potatoes and fiddlehead ferns. Eat the whole glorious mess.

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