Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Kittery's Signature Lobster Roll Brings the Seaside to Cobble Hill

By Heather Holland | November 15, 2012 1:03pm

CARROLL GARDENS — Chef Joshua Moulton of Kittery, a seafood shack soon to open in the neighborhood, shared with DNAinfo.com New York how he makes his signature lobster roll.

Kittery, located at 305 Smith St., will be serving Atlantic seafood, inspired by the classic cuisine of Kittery, Maine, and is expected to open its doors on Nov. 19. The menu will include fried clams, lobster rolls, oysters, scallops and fish filets.

“It’s like when you’re on a vacation, sitting at a picnic table by the ocean and eating really good seafood,” Moulton said.

The new seafood joint will feature a bar, and indoor and outdoor seating, said Moulton, who was born in Boston, but lived in Maine for the early part of his life. Instead of reenvisioning classic recipes like the lobster roll, Moulton says it's important to keep to the way it's always been made.

“Now there’s some people who put celery in it, there are some people who put onion in it, there’s some people who put lettuce on the bottom, but I don’t do any of that,” Moulton said. “I basically think that lobster with a little bit of dressing and a proper bun and we’re all set to go.”

Moulton has chosen his lobster roll as Kittery’s signature dish, though he says fried clams are a close second.

To start the dish, the chef boils a half-pound lobster for about 10-12 minutes. The lobster meat from the tail and claws are then removed from its shell and sliced into chunks about a half-inch thick. The lobster at Kittery is sourced from Portland, Maine, and retrieved from a tank at the Red Hook Lobster Company.

Next, a split-top hotdog bun — meaning the slit is at the top and not the side — is covered with butter on two sides and grilled.

The chilled lobster meat is then tossed with a tablespoon or so of dressing, which consists of mayonnaise, lemon juice, chive and tarragon.

“The mayonnaise is the base that holds it together, but the less mayonnaise the better,” said Moulton.

Once the lobster meat is placed in the bun, the sandwich is served with house-made coleslaw, crispy sweet potato sticks and a pickle, sourced from Brooklyn.

“There are a lot of great [seafood] places that kind of dot the ocean side, where at a picnic table you can get this amazingly fresh seafood,” said Moulton. “The classic stuff that they do makes sense and there’s a reason that it stuck around.

"It really allows the seafood to shine.”