Gypsy Jan
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Fifteen Pound Plus Lobster in Puerto Nuevo
The ATM in Puerto Nuevo has been moved from the front restaurant at the northeast entrance to the far southwest end of the...ehh...village/marketing
complex.
Next to the police-guarded ATM booth is Brisa Marina Restaurant.
The streetside host of Brisa Marina invited us to his restaurant and it was a very good meal. Five half lobsters for $15 dollars with tortilla soup,
rice, beans and tortillas.
The lobsters were fresh and sweet, the beans and rice good, tortillas OK and plentiful. Two salsas - the cruda was meh - sour tomatoes, but the other
salsa made from dried chiles was very good.
A complementary dessert was served - fresh strawberries and marischino cherries with a vanilla sauce and bits of granola.
Ohh...what about the 15 lb. monster lobster?
An American couple came in and asked the waiter to bring out the "big guy", so they could take a picture.
The waiter obliged, bringing out the largest live big Paciific lobster that I have seen in years.
He's on the special menu - U.S. $200 for a full meal.
Restaurant Bar Brisa Marina
Barracuda #107, Puerto Nuevo, Rosarito
Leticia Becerra Leon, Owner
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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castaway$
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I want to see a picture of the lobster, maybe with a lttle butter and lemon.
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Hook
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I'm not sure how good a 7 kilo lobster would be but if they would provide setups for 10 (you know, all the beans, rice, guac, tortillas, etc.), it
would be worth the novelty at 20.00/head. Al vapor, of course.
Probably the first US legal sized lobster served in PN in a few years............
[Edited on 11-27-2007 by Hook]
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ELINVESTIG8R
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That is probably an old lobster that has lived for some time. It's a shame he can't be either put back in the ocean or placed in an ocean aquarium for
all to enjoy where he can live out the rest of his days in peace. I guess I am just a sucker for that kind of thing. It pulls on my heart strings. I
remember when I lived with Mama Espinoza she would throw the lobsters into the boiling tub of water and they would squeal. I always felt sorry for
them because I thought they were in pain.
[Edited on 11-27-2007 by ELINVESTI8]
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vacaenbaja
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You haven't seen or heard lobster pain untill you've withnessed someone BBQ a live lobster by repeatedly placing
the live creature on a vey hot grill to watch it fly off with a high pitched squeal and have the drunk guy take another pull
from his bottle and repeat this until the the lobster had no life left in it and would stay on the grill.
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ELINVESTIG8R
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That is just screwed up.
[Edited on 11-27-2007 by ELINVESTI8]
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bajadedom
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There is no reason to cook a pacific spiny lobster while still alive unless you enjoy the torture scene....better to grab the bug and twist it in half
at the tail joint killing it in 1 second...then take an antenna off the body and stick it through the 'vent' hole and pull through to de-vein the tail
(which is what you'll be eating - very little meat in the rest of the bug....use it for soup or bisque dip ).....tail is best cooked for about 7-8
minutes in the STEAM above the boiling water.....so tender and sweet it will fall off the fork.....
A 15 pounder is best left to breed, it will be chewy,not tasty......
Closest to just being legal are the best eating - go for the 5 half-tail deal!!
(Trust me!!)
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Hook
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajadedom
There is no reason to cook a pacific spiny lobster while still alive unless you enjoy the torture scene....better to grab the bug and twist it in half
at the tail joint killing it in 1 second...then take an antenna off the body and stick it through the 'vent' hole and pull through to de-vein the tail
(which is what you'll be eating - very little meat in the rest of the bug....use it for soup or bisque dip ).....tail is best cooked for about 7-8
minutes in the STEAM above the boiling water.....so tender and sweet it will fall off the fork.....
A 15 pounder is best left to breed, it will be chewy,not tasty......
Closest to just being legal are the best eating - go for the 5 half-tail deal!!
(Trust me!!) |
"Just legal" in Mexico translates to "just landed". 
I cook mine the way you describe. Steaming is the way to go.
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Bob H
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Shari, tell us how Juan cooks up his bugs. They were absolutely the greatest thing on earth! Especially the way he cooks of some pieces of garlic to
go along with them.
Bob H
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Packoderm
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I remember the story about Spike, the 16 pound lobster at a restaurant in Malibu. Mary Tyler Moore wanted to buy it for $1,000 so she could free it.
Then Rush Limbaugh offered $2,000 so he could eat it. The owner of the restaurant loved Spike as a pet and refused to sell him to either one. I guess
that was a bit of a faux pas on Rush's part because lobster fishermen throw back the very large lobsters because those are the breeding stock. I
remember when I heard him talking about buying Spike so he could eat him, and I thought, "What a pig."
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dean miller
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I write (wrote) articles for Diving Magazines...This article was brought out of retirement from my file of articles from many years ago...
A good arguement for not harvesting a lobster over 10 pounds..
MY NEW DIVING HERO
By
DEAN MILLER
I have a new diving hero. No, you won’t see his picture on the cover of a diving magazine nor will you see him in action in one of the many diving
documentaries that currently grace our TV screens. He’s not even well known for his diving activities.
While many of you were relaxing in the warmth and comfort of your home he was diving in the water surrounding Santa Rosa Island.
With flashlight in one hand and a lobster bag in the other, he entered the cold of the ocean in search of lobsters.
California Fish and Game laws decree that a lobster must be taken by hand, and must be greater than 3 ¼ inches in length measured from a point behind
the horn ridge to the end of the carapace. The mature legal lobster weights less than two pounds, and is between four and seven years old. It has the
opportunity to mate at least once producing two lobsters that will also reach sexual maturity creating a sustained the yield of the tasty morsels.
My diving hero eagerly swam around, over and even into the large caves of the reefs, searching for the carrion of the deep. His first day of hunting
produce four legal size bugs including a very presentable six pound seven ounce male.
On the very first dive of the second day he headed underwater towards shore, the conditions weren’t ideal for bugging, a slight surge was present and
visibility was reduced to almost zero requiring a flashlight in order to see, creating a definite underwater challenge for good bug hunting.
Nevertheless, he continued swimming until he reached an area that looked promising, huge boulders creating large caves in which bugs make their homes.
As he was swinging his light from side in the almost zero visibility he caught a glimpse of a monster bug sitting regally on top of a ledge out
cropping like a mustang horse over looking his herd. Carefully laying down his light he slowly and methodically approached the bug to do battle.
With the experience gained from over thirty years of strong active diving he expertly approached the bug that was also alerted that an intruder was in
the area. The bug rose majestically on all ten legs preparing to stand ground and do battle as the antenna, the movement sensing organs, started
moving in concentric arcs. Slowly, steadily my hero diver approached monster bug. The bug was also fully aware and alerted that there was a huge
intruder steadily approaching. Like two fighters meeting for a championship match, they cautiously sized each other up. Within a split second the
battle was over. The bug was expertly pinned. The right hand placed securely around the horns at the base of the antenna and the left grasping and
forcing the tail to the reef. No need to measure this one it was unquestionably legal. The bug was given a good shake to disturb its equilibrium and
instantaneously thrust tail first into the security of the open game bag. The battle had been decisive, Diver 1 Bug 0!
My new diving hero returned to the boat, climbed the swim step to the deck, and unceremoniously emptied his game bag. The enormous lobster weighing
in at ten pound eight ounces tumbled to the deck. His fellow divers and the crew gathered around to view close up and personal this monster bug from
the deep. The dual digit last legs and the large swimmerets under the tail indicated this was a female, a grandmother perhaps even a great great
grand mother of all the uncaught lobsters still on the reef and the not so quick and certainly not very lucky lobsters in game bags on the boat.
As he held the 10 ½ pound lobster up for all to see photographic flashes illuminated the diving boat. Other divers not so fortunate held the lobster
for documentary photos, like those childhood photos with Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. Soon the excitement settled down and it was back to the task at
hand, bug hunting. In buddy pairs the divers once again entered the alluring frigid waters of the Pacific Ocean in search of future meals.
My new diving hero, as unceremoniously as he had entered the boat and emptied his game bag, replaced the unfortunate gigantic lobster back into the
bag.
With the bag firmly grasped in his hand he boarded the dive boat’s inflatable skiff and headed for an isolated area devoid of lobster traps and seldom
visited by divers. My diving hero opened the bag, gave the by then bewildered grand mother lobster a final goodbye pat and gently released it into
the comfort and familiarity of the reef, its home, hopefully forever.
My diving hero is most famous for the magnificent food served in massive quantities at his Pismo Beach landmark resturant, F. Mc lintock’s, his name
is Tunny Ortali. Just as there is only one F.Mc lintocks there is only one Tunny Ortali, my new diving hero! A diver of the new millennium, a diver
who voluntarily releases a trophy size lobster back into its natural habitat so that the species will multiply producing a sustained yield of legal
bugs for future generations to enjoy the exhilaration of a bug hunt.
30
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vandenberg
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Dean, More my kind of story. Thanks!! 
Spelling.Grrr...
[Edited on 12-20-2007 by vandenberg]
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dean miller
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Addendum to the article (?) (I have a BS in biology)
Re: Stable lobster population.
The current minimal size limits established by California F&G is based upon the sexual maturing of the lobster and a reproduction cycle of at
least one time to create a sustained stable lobster population.
Therefore, the current lobster population would remain stable if each legal female produced, from the excess of 500,000 eggs it carries, a minimum of
two lobsters that reached legal maturity with in its lifetime.
As the lobster matures and increases in weight the number of eggs it produces and carries also increases.
A ten pound lobster, which is estimated at fifteen to twenty or more years old, could carry in excess of one million eggs; producing at each mating
season approximately four lobsters that will reach sexual maturity. A ten-pound lobster is a grand mother many times over and has probably mated ten
or more seasons and could count perhaps a minimum of thirty or more mature lobsters as off spring. If the lobster remains in the wild it can be
expected to continue to grow and to continue to increase its production of eggs many fold as long as it survives.
It would be appropriate and is suggested that the harvesting of all large lobsters be curtailed and especially the larger females to insure a stable
possibly a larger lobster population for the divers of the future.
sdm
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David K
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Packoderm
I remember the story about Spike, the 16 pound lobster at a restaurant in Malibu. Mary Tyler Moore wanted to buy it for $1,000 so she could free it.
Then Rush Limbaugh offered $2,000 so he could eat it. The owner of the restaurant loved Spike as a pet and refused to sell him to either one. I guess
that was a bit of a faux pas on Rush's part because lobster fishermen throw back the very large lobsters because those are the breeding stock. I
remember when I heard him talking about buying Spike so he could eat him, and I thought, "What a pig." |
It was a joke to point out the silliness of the Hollywood elite... Rush and anyone else can buy a lobster to eat for a lot less (like $25-50)...
that's what lobsters are in the restaurant for. What MTM did was to try and tell the owner what he could have as a pet with her wealth.
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Packoderm
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I think that MTM backed off when it became clear that Spike would live. I don't think she has a major problem with making pets out of lobsters; she
just feels that boiling them alive causes them too much pain.
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Von
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Hey what about those tiny ones that look like shrimp at Popotla? Thats amazing those guys will catch any size and sell them for a buck or so? and I
know dont buy them right? there dead any ways and theyll eat them no matter what believe me i know these people there worthless and dont care about my
ocean! I remember one time when I was a teenager I stole about 30+ lobster traps right in front on my Grandpas place in La BArca |Rosarito no
lobs. but there where some crabs let them go. Its so depleted its rediculous wen I was akid i use to eat abulon now ? forget imposible unless you go
to Popotla and ask these RATS! for some abulon theyll dive for it and deplete that too! theyll take the small ones too.
READY SET.....................
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dean miller
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One must have the ability to properly idenify the lobster marketed in Baja.
The majority of lobsters sold at New Port are probably imports - the "panularis Cygnus" of Australia or the famous rock lobsters "jasusi Landi" of
south Africa, to the untrained eye and palet the all appear and taste the same, but they are different.
On occasion the locals slip in locally caught bugs,the "panularis interruptus" as noted in the article about the 15 pound lobster.
That area has so much polution from all the recent construction and influx of new residents and associated services that I would be hesitant to dine
on local lobsters.
But to each his own..
sdm
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