ITALIAN RECIPES TRADITIONAL AND CREATIVE 

  The description and the Italian recipes of the crustaceans

The lobster (astice): description and step-by-step photographed recipes

The lobster is the greatest crustacean of the Mediterranean sea . Being arthropods, lobsters are largely bilaterally symmetrical; clawed lobsters often possess unequal, specialized claws. A freshly caught lobster will have a claw that is full and fleshy, not atrophied. Because a lobster lives in a murky environment at the bottom of the sea, its vision is poor and it mostly uses its antennae as sensors. The anatomy of the lobster includes the cephalotorax which is the head fused with the thorax, both of which are covered by the carapace, of chitinous composition, and the abdomen. The lobster's head consists of antennae, antennules, mandibles, the first and second maxillae, and the first, second, and third maxillipeds. The carapace is smooth and the colour black bluish, with yellowish reflections on the back.

Lobsters grow throughout their lives and it is not unusual for a lobster to live for more than 100 years. They can thus reach impressive sizes. According to the Guinness World Record, the largest lobster was caught in Nova Scotia , Canada , and weighed  lbs 44 and oz 6 (20.23 kg ). In the Mediterranean Sea it can reach  23,62 in (60 cm) in length and lbs 13,22 (6 Kg) in weight.

It must be cooked alive (you can stun it by beating its head with a hammer just before putting into the boiling water) as its meats begin to decompose as soon as it dies. You can also buy frozen if you can’t buy it alive or you don’t like this cooking method…

Due its delicate meats is cooked boiled, then added to the condiments.

For opening its carapace are useful special pincers, but you can use also a nutcracker for the claws and the legs. For opening the tail cut a superior part of the carapace. It is easier and will come out entire.

 The Italian step-by-step photographed  recipes for the lobster proposed by Italian Homemade Cooking

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