Instructions: Take the lobster home and place a wet towel over it the darkness will make it go to sleep.

You can either cook it in wellsalted water (as salty as sea water Rick Stein actually cooks his lobsters in sea water) or you can make a fragrant broth with celery fennel chillies bay and other herbs.

Fill a large pan with enough water to cover the lobster then only when the water is boiling fast put it in head first and cover with a lid.

Cook for about 3 minutes per 455g. Remove from the pan and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Now you need a good sharp knife (a serrated one is good).

Place the lobster on a board its tail facing away from you.

There is a line running along its back to its head. Just behind its eyes place the point of your knifeand split down to the front end then turn it round and split down to the other end so that you have cut along the lobsters entire length. Remove the dark intestinal vein that runs down the tail the small stomach sac which lies in the head and the gills. (If the lobster is to be served cold allow it to cool in its shell to keep the flesh moist.)

Crack open the claws with the base of a large cooks knife.

Serve flesh side up.

Lobster is such a sociable thing to eat. I always serve it simply with an interesting green salad fresh bread and two or three homemade dips or sauces such as lemon or basil mayonnaise aioli chilli and fennel salsa sweet chilli and pepper salsa (qv).

Put a fingerbowl on the table and serve some cold and crisp white wine.

Its nice to buy one lobster weighing about 1100g for 2 people or smaller ones for each person. Ask your fishmonger what sizes he has available. Your lobster will have its pincers secured with rubber bands just leave these on until it is cooked.

You can buy readycooked lobsters in the supermarkets for quite a reasonable price but to experience the sublime flavour of lobster as it should be you must buy your lobsters live and cook them yourself. You wont get them any fresher than that. You will probably have to order them from your fishmonger or supermarket in advance. They wilt be blackish but will turn bright red during cooking. In my opinion it is not necessary to kill the lobster with a knife before cooking (as some people do) because it wilt die instantly when plunged into the boiling water and unless you kilt it properly with the knife it could end up in pain. Also I believe that by piercing the lobster the meat will not taste as good because a lot of the succulent juices will have been allowed to escape into the water. Sorry if this all sounds a bit harsh.

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