Fourchu Lobster: Cape Breton Crustaceans The Next Culinary Trend?

Fourchu Lobster

The Huffington Post Canada   First Posted: 08/11/11 11:27 AM ET Updated: 10/11/11 06:12 AM ET

Could lobster from Fourchu, Nova Scotia, a small town on Cape Breton Island, be the next culinary trend to sweep New York?

Time Magazine's Josh Ozersky sings the praises of the humble crustacean and the tiny town of just 47 residents.

Better still, the lobsters come with a great story. No restaurateur or chef worth his Himalayan salt will fail to conjure up the image of the tiny, colorful village, with its exotic, weather-hardened inhabitants speaking Gaelic and playing concertinas in a musky, ancient tavern.

But how does Cape Breton's finest stack up to Maine or other, more ordinary, lobster?

Writer Peter Kaminsky, who wrote a piece on the lobsters in 2009 for Departures magazine, said the Canadian product is more complex and richer than the one-note flavours you get from lesser lobsters. It apparently has something to do with Cape Breton's frigid waters and when the fisherman decide to harvest them. The Village Voice dubs them the "Kobe Beef of Lobster," comparing them to the meticulously raised Japanese cattle.

Time magazine isn't the only one jumping into the pot. The Wall Street Journal has their story on Fourchu lobsters. The lucky reporter even got a chance to try one of the 3,000 lobsters being shipped to New York this season. To make sure the lobsters arrive to New York in the best shape, importers are even shipping them in their own salt water tanks.

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Could lobster from Fourchu, Nova Scotia, a small town on Cape Breton Island, be the next culinary trend to sweep New York? Time Magazine's Josh Ozersky sings the praises of the humble crustacean an...
Could lobster from Fourchu, Nova Scotia, a small town on Cape Breton Island, be the next culinary trend to sweep New York? Time Magazine's Josh Ozersky sings the praises of the humble crustacean an...
 
 
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03:08 PM on 08/11/2011
We get them fresh from the Bay of Fundy - lightly steamed in sea water, served with with fresh butter- and that is as close to food perfection as you can get. But anywhere you're getting them in Atlantic Canada is going to be 100 times better than the lesser Maine lobsters. Sorry - we dont have much in this neck of the woods, but we have the best lobster to be sure.
11:45 AM on 08/11/2011
I'm not sure if I've ever had Lobster from Fourchu, but as a life long Caper (person from Cape Breton) I can say that the lobster I eat at home has always been more tasty then the stuff I've had from the US or even Halifax. It could be because I know fishermen so I don't have to buy it from the grocery store or restaurant but get it fresh from the sea!
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11:05 AM on 08/11/2011
Usually they are smothered in butter or cream anyway, so how could you tell?