Icelandic banking collapse causes lobster glut!

In an unprecedented synergy between finance and food, lobster prices have reached historical lows because of the Icelandic banking collapse.

How?? Well, fresh lobster is very perishable, so most of the world lobster demand is for frozen and processed lobster product. And apparently the processing plants that turned fresh lobster into lobster product depended on Icelandic banks for financing. When the Icelandic banking system collapsed, the processing plants closed their doors, eviscerating the demand for fresh lobster, and so the price of fresh lobster collapsed. Further reading:

• The Mystery of Cheap Lobster, by the author of The Secret Life of Lobsters.
• Lobster Market Takes a Dive in a local Maine paper.
• Canadian MP Brison Speaks in Support of the Atlantic Lobster Fishery.

Well, I suppose I'd better do my part to stimulate the economy by eating some lobster! I bought a 1½-pound beauty from The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market ($9.99 per pound), and I indulged in a week of lobster! The New York Times proposes “a weekend of simple excess, starting on Friday night and culminating in a hearty Sunday breakfast or lunch. It requires only the basic ingredients of American summer, East Coast professional division: lobster, corn, potatoes, butter, rice, steak, eggs.”

Start out with Steamed Lobsters.

Don't forget to save your lobster shells to make lobster stock for Lobster Risotto!

Finally, wake up the next morning with Eggs Over (Easy) Lobster Risotto Patties. Delicious. Luxurious. For $15.

Believe it or not, 2 days later I went to New Jersey and bought two big lobsters for $5.88 per pound. So much lobster!

• Recipes from Three Ways Till Sunday, by Sam Sifton.
• Lobsters from Great Wall Supermarket, Franklin, NJ, and The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market.
• Arborio rice for risotto is available at any Trader Joe's or Whole Foods.