The Lobster Roll: or Admitting My Ethnocentricity

By John Currence | December 16, 2008 | Food

My wife and I took a house this past summer in Maine with two other couples. Both of the husbands of the other two couples and one of the wives write for ESPN, like to drink more whiskey than a doctor may prescribe as "good for you," and love to eat. It could not have been, for me, a more perfect enclave¬–nights filled with card games, good wine and bourbon, great food, and stories of Jack Nicklaus's jet, Tiger's temper, and the Manning brothers' twisted sense of humor.

My culinary task for the trip was to come to terms with the Maine Lobster Roll. The Roll was something I was somewhat familiar with, though I had never wrestled with it on its native soil. My initial thoughts when I hear "roll" are of rice paper or wonton skins and a deep fryer. For those of you who are in the same boat as me (or as I was), the Lobster Roll is little more than lobster, or, at certain locations, light, mayo-dressed lobster on the equivalent of a hot dog bun, though the bun is much more interesting–picture a hinged Texas Toast bun (it's a real thing of beauty).

The recipe for the lobster filling varies from location to location, but the intent is the same: a load of fresh steamed lobster meat to the gullet delivered by the simplest vehicle possible. Our stops for Roll sampling progressed in a perfectly linear way, as, quite unintentionally, we navigated a path from Roll-subtle to Roll-sublime. Our first stop: Red's Eats in Wiscasset, a great place to begin. Red's Roll was, simply, perfectly steamed lobster on a butter-toasted roll with no flourish or embellishment. Red will, as I understand it, provide (begrudgingly) a side of mayo or drawn butter, but the man is a purist and his Roll speaks to exactly that. Lunts Lobster Pound in Ellsworth offered a formidable Roll: our first to involve mayonnaise in the equation, which I appreciated from a heart-stopping standpoint.

From left: Allison and Seth Wikersham, Wright Thompson, and Bess and John Currence outside Red's in Wiscasset

We proceeded through a number of increasingly complex combinations over the next week (including an experiment or two of our own) but ended our quest at the elysian fields of the Lobster Roll, Bagaduce Lunch in Brooksville, perhaps the finest walk-up I have ever eaten at. Their roll was an artful combination of lobster, a creamy, light mayo, and exquisite subtle spices that blew the doors off anything else we had tried–including our own experiments. It is a magnificently natural exercise for them, it seems: They were recently awarded an America's Classics award by the James Beard Foundation, which is just another adornment for Bagaduce. Their medal hangs unceremoniously from a nail, with a "who-gives-a-crap" wink, right inside the ordering window.

Our tray at Bagaduce. Clockwise from top right: Bacon Cheese Fries, Fish Sandwich Burger, Lobster Roll and Scallop Sandwich

Bottom line is, the Lobster Roll rocks. Hats off to the Arkansas of New England for a perfectly indulgent addition to the American sandwich menu. I mean, what's not to like...fresh lobster, mayonnaise (or butter), and white bread–proof positive that simple is better.