# Roasted Lobster Shell Powder



## chrim007 (May 17, 2011)

Hi Guys,

Last year I had an absolutely amazing Bouillabaisse at L'Epuisette just outside of Marseille and ever since I've been trying to re-create a similar flavor at home.

Fortunately I live in Sydney (Australia) and we have an abundance of quality seafood with some very similar species to the Mediterranean being readily available.

One of the key ingredients in the L'Epuisette Bouillabaisse is Roasted Lobster Shell Powder. I have not been able to find any commercial variants of this but figured it can't be too difficult to make???

Does anybody have any experience doing this? I was simply going to head down to the Fish Markets on the weekend and get some empty cooked lobster shells, wash them out, dry roast them in the oven for 10-20mins and then bash them up in a Mortar and Pestle.

Is there any other process that I'm missing out on here or any advice from people who have tried to make this before?

Thanks

Chris


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Hi Chrim007,

Welcome to Cheftalk 

I haven't any experience of making this, but I think you are almost there.  I'd break down the shells maybe in a blender first once they are totally dried , then into a coffee grinder to get it to a powdered state.  The mortar and pestle won't get it fine enough.  Then I would put it thru a fine sieve.  Don't want any crispy bits in there 

See how it goes, it would be interesting to see how you go.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

chrim007 said:


> Last year I had an absolutely amazing Bouillabaisse at L'Epuisette just outside of Marseille and ever since I've been trying to re-create a similar flavor at home...


You have been suffering from alienitis holidayremembritis. Nothing dangerous. The symptomes are people trying to revive the experience of an alien environment, be it wine or a dish or even companionship of the opposite sex etc.

All I want to say is that you will never succeed in recreating the dish "ambiance" even if you got the recipe 100° correct. You experienced a more or less "holistic" event. It's not the dish alone, it's everything. Your senses will have picked up all kinds of alien sounds and language, curious smells, odd tastes, all combined. That's the holistic event. For the same reason, that excellent wine you tasted in the french Provence never ever tastes the same when bringing it home etc.

Oh, almost forgot; I never heard of using lobster powder, certainly not in Marseille, thé bouillabaisse town par excellence! It's not a traditional ingredient. Cooking fresh lobster heads to extract a wonderful bisque, absolutely.


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## tigger (Jan 5, 2012)

I seriously would not roast lobster shells and then grind them up.  The result will be unpleasant, at the least.  Chefs use a dehydrator; this will, literally, dry things up.  You could make some lobster stock and, using a dehydrator, make a powder out of it.  You may be disappointed at how little you get, but remember that a little goes a long way.  Dehydrators are comparatively inexpensive, these days.  Bon Appétit


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## rusty-anne (Jun 10, 2017)

I've just made a quick lobster powder by frying the shell till very dry and putting it through a grinder. Not as good as dehydrator, but okay for a quick fix


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