Glossary: lobster

Up until the end of the 19th century lobster was so plentiful that it was used for fish bait. Alas, with lobster's ever-increasing popularity (and price), those days are gone forever. This king of the crustacean family has a jointed body and limbs covered with a hard shell. The most popular variety in the United States is the Maine lobster, also called American lobster. It has 5 pairs of legs, the first of which is in the form of large, heavy claws (which contain a good amount of meat). Maine lobsters are found off the Atlantic coast of the northern United States and Canada. They have a closely related European cousin that lives in Mediterranean and South African waters and along Europe's Atlantic coast. Spiny lobsters (commonly called rock lobsters) are found in waters off Florida, Southern California, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They're easily distinguished from the Maine lobster by the fact that all 10 of their legs are about the same size. Almost all of the meat is in the tail because the spiny lobster has no claws. That meat is firmer, stringier and not quite as sweet as that of the Maine lobster. Outside California and Florida, most of the spiny lobster meat sold in this country is in the form of frozen tails, usually labeled 'rock lobster tails.'

From THE NEW FOOD LOVERS COMPANION, Fourth edition by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. Copyright © 2007, 2001, 1995, 1990 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc.