Lobster Stew Recipe

AN UNPARALLELED MALLORCAN SPECIALITY

Ingredients for 4 people: 1.6 kilos of live lobster (best if just one lobster), 16 slices of white unsalted Mahón rustic loaf (not a baguette), a large onion, a large ripe tomato, 2 cloves of garlic, some fresh sprigs of parsley, 4 cups of broth from boiling the lobster, a small cup of concentrated tomato paste, 2 spoonfuls of cognac, 2 small cups of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Instructions: Tie the lobster and put it in a cooking pot with 5 cupfuls (1/4 litre) of boiling water. Leave it to cook for 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and leave to cool.

Break the lobster into pieces with your hands, so that each diner can have a piece of the tail, body and pincers.

Peel the onion, tomato and cloves of garlic. Clean the parsley and chop it all up separately into small pieces.

Heat the oil in a thick clay cooking pot and sauté the onion on a low heat, stirring it all the time. When it is soft, add the tomato and garlic. Continue to fry the mixture until it is confited. Add the parsley and pieces of lobster. Season and simmer for 20 minutes on a highish heat.

Now add the tomato purée and cognac. Cook for 5 minutes more and it’s ready to serve.

Arrange the very finely sliced bread on the plates. Each diner must cover the bread in boiling stew and take his or her share of lobster.