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Cornish lobster with a tomato vierge

Cornish lobster with a tomato vierge
Image | David Griffen Photography © Copyright | The Nare Hotel

Ingredients

To serve 2:

1 pot-caught Cornish lobster, approximately 800g - 1000g
6 large tomatoes
Half a teaspoon of caster sugar
Half a teaspoon of good white wine vinegar
250ml olive oil
Chopped basil or chives

Method

 
Richard James, Head Chef at The Quarterdeck at The Nare Hotel, shares his recipe for Cornish lobster with a tomato vierge. Although it sounds exotic, and certainly tastes delicious, the method is actually pretty simple - as long as you're familiar with lobster!
 

Method:

Place the lobster into boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. Take out and leave to cool before cutting in half with a sharp knife. De-vein the tail and crack the claws - a household rolling pin is good for this task if there is no chef’s hammer to hand.
 

Blanche the tomatoes by cutting out the core and scoring the tops before dropping into boiling water for just 10 seconds. Remove and immediately place in iced water to facilitate removing the skins easily. Once skinned, cut in half and take out the seeds which should be kept to one side with the skins. Dice the halved tomatoes. Put the skins, the seeds, the sugar and the vinegar into a small saucepan and cook on a low heat until all the liquid has gone. Push through a sieve and add the olive oil, diced tomatoes and chopped chives or basil. Mix together to form the vierge.

Place the lobster halves on a plate, scatter the tomato vierge over the top and serve with salad leaves and Cornish new potatoes - lovely! 

Lobster

Gill Netting

Cornish waters

Gill netting using monofilament nets is far less selective and has more issues with by catch of non target species such as rare sharks, skates and cetaceans.

Potting

Cornwall

Pot caught lobster is the best choice. Potting is a selective, low impact fishery and there are many local bye-laws that protect the stocks of Lobster.

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Cornwall Good Seafood Guide is underpinned by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) Good Fish Guide. The first UK consumer guide to sustainable seafood. For more information visit www.fishonline.org

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