How to Make Love to a Lobster: An Eclectic Guide to the Buying, Cooking, Eating and Folklore of Shellfish - Tapa blanda

Making love to a lobster -- that is, buying, cooking and eating lobster -- is a lot easier than you might think. And if you've ever thought that you'd like to get close enough to a lobster (or any kind of shellfish) to tame it into submission, but didn't really know how to start, then How to Make Love to a Lobster is the book for you.

This book is a primer on 13 different kinds of seafood, covering crustacean favourites such as lobster, scampi, prawns, shrimp and crab, and mollusc favourites such as clams, mussels, scallops and oysters, as well as more unusual edibles such as abalone, conch, squid and octopus.

For each type of seafood, the authors provide guidance on how to clean it, store it, cook it and eat it. Also included are charming folklores and histories, written in a lively and engaging style ("Consider the Crab," "The Strange Abalone," "Mussels Galore") and recommendations for North American and European wines that pair well with the seafood.

How to Make Love to a Lobster also features 40 fabulous recipes for shellfish, many from beloved seafood restaurants and internationally renowned chefs. Try your newly-acquired seafood cooking skills on:

Lobster Rolls from chef Rebecca Charles of Pearl Oyster Bar in New York
Shrimp Steamed in Beer from chef Kee Lee of Filet of Sole Restaurant in Toronto
Cioppino (seafood stew) from chef John Canepa of Tadich Grill in San Francisco
Oyster Pan Roast from Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York
Kelp Greenling and Squid from chef Michael Stadtlander of Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island

Also, for those who prefer to have their shellfish served up to them, there is a comprehensive list of "Good Places to Eat Shellfish" in Canada and the United States. This list of 185 restaurants -- in provinces and states on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and bordering the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.

How to Make Love to a Lobster is a book that will satisfy all your shellfish cravings.

Marjorie Harris is one of Canada's leading lifestyle writers and has been the gardening columnist for the Globe and Mail since 1990. The author of more than 30 books, including the recent Thrifty: Living the Frugal Life with Style, she has also written for Chatelaine, Zoomer and Garden Design Magazine.

Peter Taylor has written nine books, including Three Bricks Shy of a Load: A Collection of Stories about Ordinary People Doing Really Dumb Stuff and the novel, Watcha Gonna Do Boy . . . Watcha Gonna Be?, which was produced as a CBC television movie and a radio drama.