Elba part 8 - Lobster fest

We celebrated a few birthdays in the family this week. F was the first to turn a year older and I took him out for a very nice dinner (if I may say so myself) in Marciana Marina. We went to Affrichella, a fish restaurant, and left the kids at home with the famiglia. This is a very rare happening and what made it a special evening. We enjoyed every drop of prosecco, every bite of fish and every moment of luscious, quiet conversation. It was a magnificent summer evening and we were even spoiled with a spectacular sunset over the sea on the curvy drive down the coast.

Yesteray it was our brother-in-law's birthday so my in-laws treated us to a lovely lunch for the birthday boys and we willingly obliged. The cloudy sky made it the perfect day for a food fest...and if you read below you will understand my cry for a stomach pump yesterday evening...

Father-in-law took his usual trip to the fish monger and picked up some very large and active lobsters (the Mediterranean kind, without large front pinchers as opposed to the astice, which has them) and some scallops in their shells. Brother-in-law brought over a magnum of champagne, mother-in-law made red caviar and tomatoes on toast and we were ready to roll. There was even a big ice-cream birthday cake, but we avoided the candles so that the cake wouldn't collapse, hehe.



Paccheri con aragosta



...or spaghetti con aragosta if you prefer



...and a little something to nibble and pick on



Ingredients

2 large lobsters (approx. 3kg)

ripe tomatoes

garlic

plenty of olive oil

Cut the live lobsters into medallions (I am not squeemish but it was too much even for me to watch - there has to be a better way), and cook the medallions, halved heads and legs in olive oil, where you will have previously sautéed chopped garlic and ripe chunks of tomatoes. By the time your water is boiling to cook the pasta the sauce should be ready. Put aside the lobster, mix the sauce with the drained pasta and garnish with one medallion per serving. Serve the rest on the side.

Close encounters of the third kind



My little guy's close encounter with his first lobster



                                                                                                                                                                 



Mmmh...weird stringy things...





I'm gonna try and poke it





and stroke it...



 

...and taste it.





Antipasto at Affrichella: from right to left roll with stoccafisso all'elbana (stockfish the Elba way),

Cappucino al nero di seppia (squid ink and a potato cream), boiled octopus, tonnina (salted raw tuna) in olive oil. Sorry, no flash...





Main fish course at Affrichella: seared tuna filet in a squid ink flavored bread crumb crust on a potato mousse with tomato and basil coulis.