Classic Lobster Dinner

Thanks to my gourmet cook of a husband, I’m quite the foodie. Although food is not the main focus of my blog or photography, food is one of my main pleasures while traveling, and I am a fan of many Foodie Instagram accounts. You can also read about some of my ongoing food adventures at The Tiny Travelholic Facebook page.

Maine in summer is nirvana for Foodies with the new shell lobsters and fresh produce at Farmer’s Markets. Spring has fewer choices in fresh produce, but lobsters still abound as does other fresh fish, and shellfish. There are also fabulous local cheeses, local greens and my new favorite spring delicacy, fiddlehead ferns.

As for lobster, I’ve been here 12 days and I’ve had lobster three times. I actually feel I’m a bit behind there!  I definitely have noticed that the lobster shells are harder this time of year, since my husband has had to help me crack two of

Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster

them.  They have been delicious (although many say they are even more savory when they have their new shells in Summer). One distressing fact: lobster prices have been climbing, not because of a lack of lobsters, but because of an overabundance of them. Several years ago the lobster harvest was huge and prices were at an all-time low, so lobstermen went out and found new markets, many of them in Asia. That has been so successful that in spite of high lobster harvests, prices have risen and according to a local news report this week, are at or near all-time highs. That said,  I’ve had a huge 1.5 pound lobster dinner for $29.99 (at the wonderful Dolphin Marina restaurant at the tip of South Harpswell) and today a lobster shack lobster for about $15, so it still seems pretty good to me from a California perspective.

Another one of my favorite seafoods are local clams, fried with crumb batter. My favorite place to get these are at the Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster lobster shack in Freeport, Maine. I think my obsessive love with this type of delicious soft-belly clam comes from my childhood; when staying in Bar Harbor Maine as a child my parents would take the family to dinner at a restaurant that had delicious fried clams. I remember being so happy when the car stopped at that restaurant (sadly can’t  remember the name) that I would skip on the way in!

Fiddlehead Fern Miso Soup

Finally, I’ve had my very first ever fiddlehead ferns on this trip, and I’m a fan.  We have been buying them fresh at The Vegetable Corner, a small store in Harpswell that has fresh breads, choice vegetables and local meats. We love this little store, and they have freshly harvested fiddlehead ferns there. The rolled-up baby fronds are delicious boiled or steamed; my husband put them in Miso Soup the other day and they were fantastic. They are evidently only available fresh a few weeks a year, so we are lucky to be here during their short season.

During the rest of my trip I’m sure there will be more wonderful food to explore, and I promise to report back!  If you are interested in learning more about food in Maine, especially lobster, my favorite blog is Maine-ly Lobster.