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CiberCuba Cocina
Chef Ivan's Terminal Lobster Photo © CiberCuba Cocina

Terminal Lobster (version of Thermidor Lobster)

Preparation time:
45
Use:
The lobster recipe that we present is inspired by a well-known dish of French origin, the Thermidor Lobster. Chef Ivan reinterpreted this creation. To do this, he gave a nod to the Cuban film “Waiting List”, in which its protagonists invent a recipe with lobsters while they are abandoned to their fate in a bus terminal. The Thermidor Lobster was created in 1894 by Auguste Escoffier, a French chef and gourmet who elevated the traditional cuisine of his country to a universal reference level. We know that cooking lobster is not an easy thing in Cuba. Even so, we have done it, because it is a nod to Cuban cinema and humor. It is also a tribute to a famous product of our cuisine, whose flavor many no longer remember.
Ingredients:
  • 2 lobster tails
  • 50 grams of butter
  • 1 shallot (it is a bulb with a flavor between garlic and onion)
  • ½ white onion
  • 50 ml white wine
  • 1 sprig of parsley, finely chopped
  • 50 grams of parmesan cheese
  • 400 ml bechamel sauce
  • 50 grams of mozzarella cheese
  • For the Béchamel Sauce:

    • 2 butter spoons
    • 2 tablespoons wheat flour (all-purpose flour)
    • 500 ml of milk
    • ½ uncut onion
    • 2 cloves
    • Salt and black pepper to taste
    • Zest of nutmeg to your taste
Instructions:

This recipe consists of 3 steps explained below.

Step 1: Blanch the lobster

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. When it is boiling, turn off the heat and add the lobster tails for 10 minutes.

After this time, take them out of the hot water, rinse them with cold water to cut the heat and clean them. The most important thing is to remove the glass, a gut that contains the waste of this crustacean. To open the shell follow the instructions offered by the chef in the video.

Lobster tails / CiberCuba Cocina

Step 2: Prepare the Bechamel Sauce:

In a saucepan, put the butter over low heat. When it is melted and just before it begins to change its color, add the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon to integrate them. This step is known as “roux” and is essential to obtain a good bechamel.

Then add the milk, little by little, stirring constantly, to prevent lumps from forming. Add grated nutmeg and ground pepper to taste. Keep cooking and keep stirring until it thickens to the desired point.

White pepper is preferably used for bechamel, but we Cubans tend to use black pepper for almost all our preparations, perhaps because it has a milder flavor.

Step 3: Prepare the Terminal Lobster:

In a saucepan, heat half the butter over low heat. Before it starts to toast, add the shallot cut into brunoise. When the shallot changes color and becomes transparent, add the lobster cubes.

Stir well so that all the elements are integrated and increase the heat for a few minutes. Once the lobster masses are browned, remove them from the casserole and set them aside.

Put the pot back on the heat and add the rest of the butter. As it begins to heat up, add the onion cut into brunoise. When it begins to brown, add the wine, increase the heat and let the alcohols reduce.

The wine and onion reduction will reach a honeyed texture, at this point add the reserved lobster, finely chopped parsley and bechamel sauce. Stir so that all the elements are integrated and cook over low heat for a few minutes.

Chef Ivan's Terminal Lobster / CiberCuba Cocina

Serve the lobster in its own shell and accompany it with the garnish of your choice. In this case the chef proposes a delicious rice with vegetables.

Enjoy it. Enjoy your meal!!

Servings:
2