Le Tete de Goinfre an excellent family run restaurant
just outside Lannion on the road to Tregastel.
Ty Goudyg at St Jean Doigt is recommended by my son as his roofing team have often eaten there.
Ty Goem at Trebeuden offers simple seafood at the seafront for resonable prices. Above it La Tourelle is equally excellent.
Top Tip: Watch for the restaurants with stacks of locals or tradesman vans parked outside. The French are extremely passionate about their food.
Eating In: Lobster – the Painless Way!
Buy live lobster as soon prior to cooking as possible. Make sure the lobsters you choose are lively. When brought out of the tank, they should angrily snap their tails and hold their claws aloft. Their “jaws” should move rapidly. When buying cooked lobster, the creature should feel heavy for its size, and its curled tail should spring back when pulled straight. If it doesn’t, skip the lobster altogether. Its meat will have lost a good deal of its sweetness.
Lobsters, like all crustaceans, are cold-blooded creatures. When exposed to low temperatures, they grow sleepy. So the Animal Welfare Unit of NSW Agriculture, an Australian company that serves farmers, recommends putting your shell critters in a tub of salt water ice slurry before boiling. Fill a tub with crushed ice and salted water at a ratio of 3-to-1. Keep the crustaceans in it for at least 20 minutes before boiling, or alternatively put them in the freezer. The department predicts that that should kill the animal before “procedures that may cause pain” are carried out. Even if it doesn’t, the lobster will be shocked, probably to quick death, if it’s put directly from a chill into a hot pot.
Extract from Maine Lobster Co
Humane Cooking An Alternative Method:
We always recommend that if you ordered live lobster, you cook them while they are still alive. There has been much debate outside of the industry about this. Some have thought that it may not be humane to place live lobster in a pot of boiling hot water. This is not believed to be so within the industry however. For those concerned, there is an easy (and more humane) alternative for cooking live lobster though. Lobsters sleep if placed on their backs. Try doing this for a few minutes. This puts them in light sleep mode (or beta state). But lobsters will fall into an even deeper sleep mode (theta state) if the temperature suddenly changes. This is because lobsters have very small brains and primitive central nervous systems an are highly affected by these sudden temperature changes.
Directions: If you’re looking for a more humane alternative to cooking live lobster, try either of the following 2 methods: Place lobster on sink or counter on their backs (belly facing up) so they will fall into the light sleep mode (beta state). Then place lobsters in a pot of cold water (instead of hot) and set heat on high. As the water heats up, the lobsters will gradually cook while continuing to sleep.
NOTE: Start timing of lobster from the time steam arises (if steaming) or water starts to boil (if boiling). Another method which is especially good for baking (as well as boiling and steaming) is: Place lobsters in a paper bag. Place paper bag (with lobsters inside) in your freezer for 10 minutes.
Take lobsters out of freezer and bag after 10 minutes and cook as you normally would cook live lobster. This places lobster in the deeper sleep mode (theta state). This is highly recommended for two reasons: The lobster will not produce the usual release of bitter chemicals produced from the shock of being put in hot water. They will be completely in a relaxed sleep state and will feel no pain. And as a result of not producing these chemicals, the meat will tend to be sweeter and more tender. So now you can enjoy your lobsters without even a hint of guilt.
