Consider the Lobster Roll

Help this classic reach its full potential

I’ve been in Maine for a few days, so naturally I have Thoughts About Lobster Rolls™ and naturally they are Correct and Helpful Thoughts© that will elevate your lobster roll game, enriching your summer and earning you the admiration of your friends, guests, and anyone else lucky enough to partake of your wisdom-enhanced crustacean sandwich skills.

The roll in the photo is from Mcloon’s in South Thomaston, Maine. It’s gotten a lot of press, most recently from Pete Wells in the NYT. It was a damn good roll, but I found myself returning to my now long-held opinion that the classic lobster roll, even one as well-made as this one, falls short of its potential.

Years ago on Valentine’s Day I made from-scratch lobster rolls, part of my ongoing quest to make iconic sandwiches entirely by hand in an effort to understand flavor better and also teach myself a variety of different techniques. The idea took hold, and it became a family tradition. I never quite settled on a Platonic ideal, though; I kept trying different iterations, pushing in various directions to achieve something magnificent. I started on team mayo, making a kimchi brine mayonnaise that set off the sweetness of the lobster marvelously. Then I switched to team butter, making a sriracha beurre blanc that was downright insane.

I played with different bun formulas, eventually deciding that a version dusted with a little smoked paprika contributed meaningfully to the result. My purple sweet potato rolls would be a solid choice if you want to DIY. One year I finely minced some of my ramp kimchi and mixed that in with the lobster. It did not suck. Over the years, I concluded that while the widespread impulse to leave the lobster alone (save for the chosen fat) on a white roll is understandable, it’s misguided. The perfect lobster roll requires a little bit more—just enough to coax every nuance out of the meat.

Whether you’re going Full Ahtisanal or just assembling yours from store-bought ingredients, these three components will elevate your lobster roll to Nirvana. If you are a purist who scoffs at the idea of augmentation, all I can say is that you are wrong. A lobster roll seasoned according to the following infallible formula will be superior to the one at your favorite seaside shack one hundred percent of the time.