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| by Sonia Satra with additional editing for this column by Bridget Petrella | |
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It’s no secret that
the online gourmet food business is, at its highest level, a true
gambler’s game. Scratch the surface of this well-mannered, sophisticated
world, and you’ll find a rough-and-tumble casino filled with high-stakes
operators and dapper rogues, each with his own tale to tell of big
payoffs, near misses, and abject woe. At UPBEAT Entertainment News
Syndicate, we've managed to sort through each and every one of the
"posers" and in the process discovered that when it comes to gourmet
gifts, the real trick is to expect no less than "art" at a "reasonable"
price. Most of our illustrious staff here at UPBEAT share their meat and
seafood with each other, much like it was back in the Neanderthal caveman
days... although it can get a bit ugly when the wine kicks in and the
gourmet food supply begins to wane... But we were and still are [each of
us] determined to find the best gourmet foods in existence and the
following 2005 UPBEAT Entertainment News Syndicate Food Bytes Editor's
Choice Award-Winners were well-deserved! |
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We especially
appreciated the rather large uncrusted area on the ends just ready for
buttering. The heart of any great lobster roll is the salad. The
ingredients list is rather simple: “lobster meat, mayonnaise, a few
spices". It inevitably looks like it isn’t dressed with anything at all,
which is exactly how we like it. In addition, the lobster meat itself
was sweet, succulent and tender. Our readers should keep in mind that we
have a preference for a simple roll without much dressing or garnish.
You may prefer your lobster salad with lots of mayo, or wrapped in
lettuce, or served on crusty French bread instead of the archetypal
cottony hot dog bun. We are sure that such deviations from the Platonic
roll qua roll would result in a very fine sandwich, but we insist that
the result shouldn’t be called a lobster roll. |
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| Winner: 2005 UPBEAT Entertainment News Syndicate Editor's Choice Award | |
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As
all frequent Internet buyers know, purchasing gourmet seafood online
can sometimes be a roll of the dice. Well the dice have come up lucky
sevens for Hancock Gourmet Lobster. This quaint and delightful
home-based company is far from the maddening grind of those marketing
machines and misplaced "hype" we are sometimes disillusioned by. If you
can’t get to Maine, or just can’t wait for the treat of an authentic
lobster roll, Hancock Gourmet Lobster is the place you want to visit
online. Frankly, once we sampled the exceptionally prepared treats from
these folks, who obviously place a great deal of time, effort and pride
into each sample, we no longer felt compelled to look any further. The
lobster rolls were perfect and reasonably priced. We tried them and
found ourselves savoring the bliss with every bite. The lobster roll kit
is shipped overnight in an iced styro foam cooler and includes six rolls
and one pound of lobster salad. The price is $58 plus $21.50 shipping,
which is exactly what you would pay for six rolls in a restaurant in
Maine... but the cool part is... you don’t have to go to Maine. We've
all occasionally seen top-split rolls in supermarkets across the
country, but none as wonderful as these.
We
also had the great pleasure of sampling Hancock Gourmet Lobster's
world famous Lobster Pot Pies... comprised of tender Maine lobster,
enveloped with a rich and creamy pate of lobster, herbs and spices,
encased in a light flaky puff pastry. The Lobster Pot Pies are loaded
with delectable Maine lobster meat in a sherry-splashed cream sauce [a luscious lobster bisque] in
a reusable white ceramic ramekins;
their pastry tops are adorned with a lobster-shaped puff pastry
decoration. Hancock Gourmet Lobster, which was established back in 1946, uses only the
freshest ingredients, adds no preservatives, produces small batches to
preserve the integrity of long-held recipes, and takes pride for
including more lobster meat than any of the other brands available
online. Hancock Gourmet Lobster sells specialty lobster products to
gourmet retail stores, catalogs, and direct to consumers via catalog or
website: 
