I’m just back from a little dog and pony show at a downtown hotel to meet the entourage from the Maritimes, here to encourage us to eat more Atlantic lobster.

Seems it’s just one of the luxury products hit hard by the economic meltdown - and American customers just aren’t buying as much. So, like the BSE crisis that put cheap tenderloins and Canadian Kobe beef on the shelf, we’re heading into a good lobster-eating season on this side of the border.

While it’s always fun to eat lobster, the real treat was the chance to meet chef Ray Bear of Halifax. On my last trip there I enjoyed his creative cuisine at Gio, and he’s since opened his own eponymous space - Bear Restaurant - featuring the same kind of modern, globally-inspired dishes, like the lobster sushi roll, topped with a bruléed hollandaise sauce, that he demonstrated to the gathered scribes, chefs and restauranteurs.

“It’s really easy and it’s not messy,” was Bear’s message as he cracked open a pre-boiled specimen to roll up with sushi rice and nori, sautée with pasta in a white wine sauce, and toss with bacon, macaroni and cheddar sauce (see recipe below). “What I hope to show Canadians is that cooking with lobster doesn’t need to be complicated.”

With experience at Chicago’s Alinea and at Nobu in South Beach, chef Bear likes to fuse international flavours into his food, and says Asian and Latin influences are strong.

“Anything with lime juice and cilantro, I love,” he says.

It’s hard to imagine a time when lobster was so plentiful that poor families sent their kids to school with lobster sandwiches. Even with prices (in Halifax) hovering as low as $8 per pound, lobster remains a luxury item. But Maritime fishers would like Canadians to support the ailing industry and enjoy it more often.

If you see live Atlantic lobsters in a tank at the seafood shop, don’t worry if they appear to be crammed into the corners like sardines, says Bear. Lobsters like to hide and be crowded, so the more crustaceans in the tank, the merrier. Just make sure they’re keeping the water ice cold - about 2 degrees C for optimum storage of live lobster.

Speaking of cold water, our top end, hard shell lobster are fished in Canadian waters nearly all year long - with half of the annual catch landed in November and December. In fact, when it comes to  the Atlantic lobster (a.k.a. Maine Lobster, American Lobster, Canadian Red), half are landed in Canada, and half in the U.S.

While the government types in tow were touchy on the topic of sustainable seafood programs like the Vancouver Aquarium’s Oceanwise certification and Seafood Watch - Estelle Bryant of Nova Scotia Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture staunching defending practice of dredging for Digby scallops - they told me that the Canadian Maritime lobster fishery is healthy and completely sustainable (Seafood Watch puts Maine lobster, the same Homarus americanus on the yellow list, saying “there is scientific uncertainty about whether this lobster is being overfished” in both the US and Canada).

The industry is currently awaiting MSC (Marine Stewardship Certification), which would give Canadian lobster an international eco-label as a sustainable fishery - and the green light to tuck into lobster whenever, and however, you like.

RAY BEAR’S LOBSTER TIPS:

1. •When buying live lobster, make sure they are lively when removed from the tank. If buying precooked, look for a lobster with a tail that’s tightly curled under - it was healthy when cooked.
   

2. •A 1.5 pound lobster will be sweeter and tastier than a huge five-pound lobster
   

3. •A one-pound lobster contained 3-4 ounces (about 1/4 pound) of meat (5.5 ounces/160 g = 1 cup)
   

4. •You can keep a live lobster in the refrigerator, wrapped in wet newspapers, for 1-3 days
   

5. •If you want to grill a lobster, blanch it in boiling water for 2-3 minutes first, just to kill it, before cutting it in half lengthwise. Brush with butter and lime with cilantro, then grill, meaty side down
   

6. •Blanch live lobsters in a large pot of boiling water for 2 minutes,then remove and place in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. The meat will be easy to pull away from the shell but not cooked - so you can use it in other recipes without overcooking
   

7. •To cook a live lobster, plunge head first into a large pot of rapidly boiling well-salted water, cover the pot, return to a boil and start timing - 12 minutes for the first pound and 4 minutes for each additional pound. Remove from water, crack the claws and shell and serve immediately, or plunge into ice water to chill and remove meat.
   

8. •If you get a female lobster, eat the roe - Bear blends raw lobster roe with stock and uses it to make risotto
   

LOBSTER BACON MAC & CHEESE

Sauce:

1 small clove garlic, minced

1 shallot, peeled and minced

1/4 cup unsalted butter

3 ounces all-purpose flour

3 cups 2% milk

1 bay leaf

pinch of nutmeg

2 cups grated aged white Cheddar

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Topping:

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

1 ounce double smoked bacon, finely chopped

1 ounce grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

2 cups dry elbow macaroni noodles, cooked al dente

1 1/2 pound Atlantic lobster, cooked, shelled and meat cut into 1/2-inch pieces

3 ounces double-smoked bacon, chopped and cooked until browned but not crisp,

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and add garlic and shallot. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in flour until combined well with butter and slowly add milk, whisking to prevent lumps.

Add bay leaf and nutmeg and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes.

Add cheeses and stir until melted and sauce is smooth.

When the macaroni is cooked, drain well and add to the sauce. Stir to combine.

Drain the bacon on a paper towel to remove excess fat.

Stir the cooked bacon and lobster into the macaroni and cheese.

Transfer the macaroni mixture to a casserole dish.

Combine the crumb topping ingredients and sprinkle over the macaroni.

Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes, until the crumb topping is golden and the macaroni is bubbly.

Serves 4.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Ray Bear