“You may not have lived much under the sea—”
“I haven’t,” said Alice.
“And perhaps you were never even introduced to a lobster—” Alice began to say, “I once tasted—” but checked herself hastily, and said, “No, never”.
“So you can have no idea what a delightful thing a Lobster-Quadrille is!”
“No, indeed,” said Alice. “What sort of a dance is it?”
“Why,” said the Gryphon, “you first form into a line along the sea-shore—”
“Two lines!” cried the Mock Turtle. “Seals, turtles, salmon, and so on: then, when you’ve cleared all the jelly-fish out of the way—”
“That generally takes some time,” interrupted the Gryphon.
“—you advance twice—”
“Each with a lobster as a partner!” cried the Gryphon.
“Of course,” the Mock Turtle said: “advance twice, set to partners—”
“—change lobsters, and retire in same order,” continued the Gryphon.
“Then, you know,” the Mock Turtle went on, “you throw the—”
“The lobsters!” shouted the Gryphon, with a bound into the air.
“—as far out to sea as you can—”
“Swim after them!” screamed the Gryphon.
“Turn a somersault in the sea!” cried the Mock Turtle, capering wildly about.
“Swim after them!” screamed the Gryphon.
“Turn a somersault in the sea!” cried the Mock Turtle, capering wildly about.
“Change lobsters again!” yelled the Gryphon at the top of its voice.
“Back to land again, and—that’s all the first figure,” said the Mock Turtle, suddenly dropping his voice; and the two creatures, who had been jumping about like mad things all this time, sat down again very sadly and quietly and looked at Alice.
“It must be a very pretty dance,” said Alice timidly.
Arthur Rackham Alice in Wonderland
The Lobster Quadrille
“Will you walk a little faster?”
Said a whiting to a snail,
“There’s a porpoise close behind us,
Treading on my tail.”
See how eagerly the lobsters
And the turtles all advance!
They are waiting on the shingle -
Will you come and join the dance?
So, will you, won’t you, won’t you,
Will you, won’t you join the dance?
Will you, won’t you, will you,
Won’t you, won’t you join the dance?
Grilled Lobster Quadrille
Two lobsters
2 tbsps Bowmore 12 year old whisky
75g of butter
2 shallots sauteed
squeeze of a lemon
100ml cream
Saute the onions until translucent. Add the whisky and simmer for 2 minutes, drizzle this over your lobsters and grill with some salt and pepper. Once the lobster is ready, then add the cream to the onions and butter and drizzle over your lobsters again.
We had our delicious lobster dipped in a whisky cream sauce with some herb fries (heat oil with garlic, onion, rosemary and thyme to 175oC and fry for five minutes, then bake in the oven for 20 and then fry again for 2 minutes).
And some some amazing bread from the new artisan bakery called The Wee Boulangerie, which has just opened on Clerk Street in Edinburgh. Try their chewy, crusty rye bread with a treacley top. Delicious.
