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One day this July I confessed to my co-worker that when I was growing up in Maine I actually did not like lobster that much and refused to eat it from age 12 to 29. She looked at me, taken aback, as if  I had just completely betrayed my heritage.

“I thought you would have eaten lobster all the time!” she exclaimed.

“No, no, no,” I shook my head, “Lobster is expensive, it’s time consuming to prepare, and messy to eat. We only had lobster on very special occasions, usually when friends from out of town were visiting. But it used to make me sick.”

She still couldn’t believe it. “What about lobster rolls?” she asked.

“Never,” I replied, “I hated mayonnaise growing up and the idea of mixing it with lobster grosses me out to this day.”

We turned back to our work, but I still got the feeling she couldn’t believe my non-lobster eating ways.
Shortly thereafter I went to Maine for a perfect down east summer weekend with my friends and family. I wanted to be sure that my out-of-town friends got the chance to eat lobster, but we didn’t have time to go through the whole process of boiling the lobsters and having a big meal, lobster crackers and all. We also wanted to have a picnic on one of the nearby islands in Casco Bay. Fortunately, we found an elegant, picnic worthy solution in minimalist lobster rolls that did not scrimp on the flavor of fresh lobster meat and didn’t drown the meat in mayonnaise. It’s so easy I’m reluctant to even call it a recipe. This is simply a document of a delicious summer meal that we want to share with you. If you are not lucky enough to live near Day’s Lobster in Yarmouth, Maine, pick up any high quality fresh lobster meat (or crab or even imitation crab).

Split the bread in half, spread with desired amount of mayonnaise, top with lobster. Squeeze lemon juice over the lobster and sprinkle liberally with Old Bay seasoning. For truly lobstery flavor keep the sandwich open faced. Enjoy on the beach, dock, back porch or just in your apartment!