At Deep-Sixed Prices, Consider the Lobster

Prices are dropping on all sorts of luxury goods—and lobster, now less than $10 a pound, is no exception. It’s the lowest price in 25 years, and might not last as fishermen give up on the trade. Spending $30 for the star of a weeknight dinner at home still isn’t cheap, admits New York Times food writer Melissa Clark, but lobster is a perfect recession splurge.

Killing a lobster isn’t a pretty enterprise, so instead of boiling it alive, put in the freezer to slow its metabolism, then slice up its underbelly. With prices low, try experimenting with new ways of cooking them: broiled and rubbed with Cajun butter, or sautéed with oyster mushrooms. Or garnish with caviar—not cheap, Clark admits, “but I couldn’t resist celebrating how much money I saved on the lobster.” (More lobster stories.)