Authentic Cape Cod Lobster Rolls [Split from Minneapolis-St. Paul Board]

[GutGrease]

Note: this thread was split by the Chowhound Team from the Minneapolis-St. Board board http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7167...

I'll be one of the voices of reason here: the "authentic" lobster rolls that I've eaten out on Cape Cod are never anything special. They are lobster bits mixed with mayo and served on hotdog buns or rolls. Out there they are all the rage but they weren't anything special to me. Maybe the main ones with special buns and cooked in butter are better, but even the Massachusetts ones are pretty pedestrian in my book. I bet that you could adequately reproduce them here sans the sea air.

[hilltowner]

To be fair, Cape Cod isn't really known for its lobster rolls. Nor is Union Oyster House. If you are being given a lobster roll on a hamburger bun or a side split hot dog roll, you are eating at tourist traps. If you are getting lobster bits in too much mayo, you are eating at tourist traps. Tourist traps are not known for their good food. There is much discussion on what is a true lobster roll, but for the sake of simplicity, I will break it down into Northern New England and Southern New England lobster rolls. Northern lobster rolls MUST be served in a top loading hot dog bun, griddled in butter on both sides. These buns are widely available everywhere in northern New England. (I never knew there was any other kind until I was in my late twenties.) Inside should be recognizable, good sized chunks of lobster, lightly dressed in mayo; not Miracle Whip. Hellmans or Cains please. That's it. The end. Maine is considered the king of the lobster roll, but you can get great ones all over northern New England.

Southern lobster rolls center around the Connecticut coast and consist of hot, buttered, lobster in a roll. I have never had one, so am not sure what kind of bun they use. Either way, both styles are pretty austere in their ingredient list. Generally, I think preference for one over the other falls under the Pizza Cognition Theory; people generally love best the one they grew up with or first encountered.

Having said all this, please revisit the lobster roll issue, either at home, with your own steamed lobsters or next time you come to visit out fair region. Post on the New Englnd board, and we will tell you exactly where to go for lobster rolls.

[c oliver]

Boy, our experience on Cape Cod last year was nothing like yours. Way, way more lobster than bun and certainly mayo. Sorry you didn't have a good experience.

[KTFoley]

True true true! The bits in mayo are not to my taste at all. That's a perfect depiction of leftovers minus the fork.

My vision of a good one is a whole lobster, steamed and shelled into a roll, with clarified butter on the side.

[faith]

Yes, I would say that bits of lobster mixed with mayo would be lobster salad...some people like that, and eat it on a hot dog roll...........but a lobster roll is usually just chunks of lobster without a lot of dressing.

[SmartCookie]

I have to agree with GutGrease; I had a roll at the Union Oyster House in Boston; sure, the lobster tasted nice, but the mayo and bun just didn't work for me.