METHOD
1. Place your live lobster in the freezer for about an hour – to desensitise and knock it out. Prepare a very large pot of water salted generously, so it tastes like sea water. Chop roughly in the carrot, onion and aromatics. Bring the water to a rolling boil.
2. Plunge the lobster into the water head first, to kill it swiftly in case it survived the freezer. Put the lid on and boil it for about 5 minutes. Prepare a bowl full of iced water if you are going to split and grill it straight away – so it’s cool enough to handle. If you want to keep it in the fridge for a day or two, just place it on a tray and cover with aluminium foil; transfer to the fridge when it’s cold.
3. For the flavoured butter mix all the herbs and aromatics into the butter. Season well with salt and pepper – or only pepper if you used salted butter. Scrape it onto a piece of cling film, wrap and shape it into a roll. Chill until firm or place in the freezer if you’re short of time.
4. To crack the lobster in half and prepare for grilling you’ll need a sharp butcher’s knife, a rolling pin or a mallet, a spoon and a lobster pick or a long and thin dessert fork (fondue forks are handy if you don’t have specialist equipment. Have a lot of kitchen towels handy, and work on a sturdy board placed on a tray, to avoid spilling the liquid everywhere.
5. Pull off the claws and all the legs; place the lobster on its belly, head towards you. Insert the knife into the seam on the head, blade towards the head, and press it all the way down to crack the shell. Twist the lobster 180 degrees and cut through the middle of the tail. Press the knife down to split the shell all the way through.
6. Place the halves cut side up on the board and scrape all the gunk from both sides of the head to leave it clean. Use the pick to scrape out the black intestine from either side of the tail. Try to keep the tail and head parts joined but don’t worry if they come apart – that’s for presentation purpose only. Wipe the head shell with paper towels and place both halves on a baking tray.
7. Break the arm segments from the claws and use the pick to scoop out meat from each segment. Break the thinner pincer off each claw and scoop out meat from it. Crack the claws with a rolling pin or mallet, with a decisive tap in the thickest part of the claw; ideally the crack should let you pull the shell cleanly off the meat, but if you need to peel it bit by bit – that’s all right. Place the meat from each claw and knuckles in the respective head shell halves.
8. If your lobster spent the night in the fridge, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6 and slip the tray in for 5 minutes to warm it up. After that, or if it’s freshly cooked, preheat the grill to the highest setting.
9. Slice the chilled flavoured butter into slices and arrange 3 or 4 slices on each lobster half. Place it under the grill for 5-6 minutes, or until the butter is all melted and bubbling. Serve immediately.