The Lobster Quadrille

Your correspondent has been roving about the British Virgin Islands of late, which is why she has been even more silent than usual on this space, and while one should definitely go to the BVI for some gorgeous scenery, superlative snorkeling, and easy but enjoyable sailing, what one does not go for is the food. The cheap drinks perhaps, although caveat emptor as to that because I had a rum punch unworthy of the name at a well known bar down there, but not the food. (A maximum respect shoutout though to the chicken roti at Ali Baba's on Jost Van Dyke and to their pina coladas as well, rated #1 in both alcoholic and virgin forms by our experienced crew.) I tried for instance what passes for a lobster down there, and I can confidently state that New England has nothing to fear. You can have the spiny lobster, Panulirus argus , give me the sweet briny succulence of Homarus americanus.

After this experience then, I look forward more eagerly than usual to reading at the earliest opportunity what sounds like a spiffy little book The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson, which sounds to be chockful of fascinating information guaranteed to stupefy any unwelcome interlocutor at a social occasion. (A welcome interlocutor will of course be fascinated by all this interesting information.)