Rosemary Parkinson, Gleaner Writer

Chicken foot soup is great for the flu on these cold evenings.

Jamaican Anthony C. Winkler in his book, The Painted Canoe, informs us in hilarious terms, the meaning of the sea, and what it is like to be a fisherman. I toast all these wonderful men who brave the seas daily so that we may have of the ocean's bounty. I give them much praise, particularly at this time, for they know that after a hurricane, a little fish will go a long way.

But this week, it is not fish that I really want to talk about, it's lobster. First, I am going to tell you a little bit about this creature for the season comes soon and there is a lot to be found out before we start pulling them out of the sea indiscriminately. I will then leave you with a fine strong one-pot meal of a soup that includes all manner of seafood, but with lobster as the main item. You can substitute any of the ingredients with anything your heart desires. The recipe is just a base for a good heart warmer on these very rainy days.

Spiny lobsters

Lobster at a good size is what we should be looking for.

The spiny lobsters (panulirus argus), found in Caribbean waters, breed year round, more frequently in the months of February and August. The average female (six inches long) produces some 850,000 eggs at a time. Fertilised eggs remain under her abdomen in a bright orange clump for about four weeks.

This roe is considered a delicacy and an aphrodisiac for men, so it is at this time the lobster is in most danger. If they escape human hands and other predators such as skate, grouper, octopus, dolphin, nurse shark and turtle, the eggs will hatch, and the tiny larval lobsters hanging together as plankton - an invitation for whales to enjoy lobster-a-la-ocean. Survivors hide in sea-grass beds, mangrove swamps and floating objects. A succession of moults occur with parts of the hard shell breaking away every 90 days, forming a new one to receive the larger body.

A year later, the baby lobster will have only reached about two inch in size. By the second year they can can breed, but four to five years before it reaches the marketable size of two pounds. Imagine that, five years of fighting against all odds just to weigh two pounds! And now that you know how long it takes for a lobster to reach a good morsel, let us try to give them some more time before plucking the tiny ones out of the sea. All we do then is deplete our ocean of this delicacy. The lobster season in our waters begins about now, finishing in March. Conservation means ensuring that those smaller than say, two and a half pounds is not even seen near our shores.

Looks fearsome

The adult lobster might look fearsome with its spiny tentacles to stave off attackers, its long spindly legs that get him far on the ocean floor and its brown/orange mottled shell protecting its body. But, once out of the water and in the pot, the lobster becomes nothing more than divine intervention on a plate. Do note: Lobster is best if purchased alive. If not to be used immediately, place live into the freezer to slowly and painlessly 'sleep' before being cooked. To cook immediately, place into boiling water head first. Do not make the mistake I made on cooking my first lobster, by putting in tail first. These creatures cry … well … BAWL … if you really want to know. And with that note (pardon de pun!) I leave you.

Bon appetit.

Hearty lobster soup

A hearty soup with all manner of shellfish and a breadstick for dunking. - photos by Rosemary Parkinson

Remember you can substitute the lobster, shrimp, calamari and baby octopus for fish alone, chicken foot, beef bones - anything you might be able to get now that things are hard after the hurricane.

3 lb whole lobster or fish (cleaned)

1 lb shrimp (cleaned)

1/2 lb calamari (optional)

1/2 lb baby octopus (optional)

1 whole pig's tail (soaked overnight)

1/2 lb carrot - diced

1/2 lb Irish potato - peeled and diced

1/2 lb yam - peeled and diced

1/2 lb breadfruit - peeled and diced

1/2 lb sweet potato -peeled and diced

1 lb pumpkin - peeled and diced

2 whole corns - cut in 2" rounds

2 cho chos - peeled and diced

1/2 cup scallion - finely chopped

1/4 cup thyme - finely chopped

1/4 cup parsley - finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped onions

1/2 tablespoon garlic - finely chopped

1/2 tablespoon rock salt

1 tablespoon cooking butter

1/4 tablespoon finely chopped Scotch Bonnet

coconut milk

water

1 package Maggi cock soup

1 can mushroom soup (optional)

2 Maggi cubes of choice

2 Scotch bonnets - whole with stem

Dumplings - as many as you like!

METHOD

1. Place all ingredients, except whole scotch bonnets and dumplings, in a large soup pot. You can leave lobster whole and enjoy after the soup, or cut into pieces leaving shell on.

2. Cover with coconut milk adding three more cups of water. Bring to boil.

3. Turn the heat down letting mixture simmer for one hour.

4. Add scotch bonnets and dumplings. Allow to cook another hour or until all the ingredients are well 'mashed'.

5. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve piping hot.

Serves up to six people.

'Never make de ocean find you without a thought in your brain.'

- The Painted Canoe by Anthony C. Winkler