2017 Visitor's Guide

LOBSTER

Azure Café in Freeport

SWEETNESS UN-TRAPPED The prospect of a visit toMaine is almost synonymous with the expectation of eating the state's famous crustacean, caught fresh in local waters. AndMaine lobster is the sweetest, most flavorful lobster on earth.

The traditional steamed lobster dinner with butter, corn, and clams is served throughout the region alongside new creative ways to savor the delicacy. Lobster rolls have also evolved from the hugely popular toasted flat bun, chock full of sweet mayonnaise-tossed meat, to other varieties featuring flavors like curry, wasabi, or chipotle. Enjoy a lobster roll in a gorgeous oceanside setting, such as Two Lights Lobster Shack or the Bite Into ME mobile eatery at Fort Williams Park, both in Cape Elizabeth. Worried about withdrawal? Several seafood purveyors are happy to send you home with lobsters packed to travel or ship them directly to you. The Maine lobster fishery is a model of resource sustainability, undertaken for generations by the fiercely independent men and women of Maine's coastal towns. Lobstering in Maine is done by a close-knit community of harvesters, and is often a multigenerational family tradition. The stories of their work on the water are as unique as Maine itself, from the origin of lobster boats’ names to the way they each fell in love with the lobstering life. Contributing more than $1 billion to the state’s economy annually, Maine lobster is not just a culinary icon, but also an economic engine. PHOTOS, FROM TOP: COURTESY TIM GREENWAY/FREEPORT USA; COURTESY CATCH A PIECE OF MAINE

DID YOU KNOW

Lobster was served at the first Thanksgiving.

Lobster is an excellent source of lean protein that’s low in saturated fat and rich in vitamin B12. In Maine, the length of a lobster’s body must be between 3 ¼ and 5 inches to keep. 100% of Maine lobsters are hand caught from small day boats.

There is no way to tell how old a lobster is because they molt their shells. The Maine lobster industry has been operating continuously since the turn of the 17th century. In season, most Maine lobstermen can have up to 800 traps in the water.

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