Quick- do you remember your favorite meal? ? The exact location, the sights, the smells of such a repast? We are often asked this question and sometimes it’s the sum all of everything that makes such a thing stick in the mind. It doesn’t have to be a Michelin starred temple to the culinary Gods. It doesn’t have to have great service. Hell, sometimes it doesn’t even have a table… We are sailing to Anegada by way of The Bitter End on Gorda. A starboard reach on a light chop heading towards open sea. Anegada, the drowned island, that coral and limestone scrub a mere 28 feet above sea level. Not an easy island to sight and a miss has you plodding along into the Atlantic. next stop Africa. But we are lazy and the GPS pings our course. More or less ball to ball in 3 hours. It’s a tricky mooring, a narrow cut of a channel hemmed in tightly by the reef. The shallow, sandy bottom glaring back at us as we take the dingy in. We bump against the small dock and are met with what we have come for (apart from drinks)……. Catching a bumpy ride over to Loblolly Bay has us scaring up scrawny goats and the odd flamingo. The scrub recedes and we get our first view of the ever so lurid blues and greens of the bay. This is what Fuji Velvia was made for…to capture each nuance and shade of the water as it pulses with other worldly hues. The colour pallet sticks with us and will find it’s way into fabrics for ages to come. Still, we have crustaceans on our mind and make them the first order of business. The polarizer working overtime on Loblolly Bay Lobsters are ordered over at Big Bamboo and Diane (some say the best Lobster cook in the Caribbean) tells us to wait a half hour or so. She sends some one off to scare some up. We drink our Caribs and watch as our soon to be waiter swims out to the reef and disappears, spear in hand. The lolliest of lobs There are indeed worse places to wait for lunch. We swim a bit, drink a bit, laze about more than a bit, and feel the crucible of the sun beating on us as we scan the water for our waiter. Lunch arrives and we dig into what we still believe is the greatest and simplest lobster we have ever had….An open grill, some lime, salt and pepper, and a bit of garlic…..It couldn’t be any easier or more succulent. The pride of Big Bamboo Imperial Black Anegada Lobster Recipe: Serves 4 4-8oz lobster tails 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter plus more for serving 1/2 lime, cut in wedges 1/2 lemon, cut in wedges Salt and cracked pepper 1 clove garlic Drink a Carib. Heat a grill to medium heat. Butterfly the tails by cutting through the thinner, underside of each tail. Then take a large sharp knife and cut through the hard upper shell. Slide your fingers through either side of the thin bottom shell and try to pry the shell back, breaking open the shell into two parts, still connected at the end of the tail. Drink a Carib and brush the lobsters with 1/2 of the butter and sprinkle with the seasoning. Run a skewer down through the center of each tail to prevent the tail from curling on the grill. Place the tails bottom (cut side) down on the preheated grill. Grill the tails for five minutes and turn over. Drink a Carib and squeeze a few wedges of lemon and lime juice on the tails. Cook for about another five minutes. Remove from heat when the meat is firm and they have cooked a total of about 8-10 minutes. Cover and let the lobster rest from about five minutes before serving. Serve with butter and the remaining wedges of lemon and lime. Drink a Carib and just try to wipe the smile from your face….. They should look like this The homeward leg to Gorda is slow and boozy with a bit of a chop coming from the North…Satiated, we barely notice the yachts at The Bitter End and opt for a few quiet drinks at the bar as the lights come on around us….. homeward bound
