We finished up Julie/Julia with a bang …. or a whimper if you count the sound the student made when she put the lobster in the pot for our dinner of Cheese Souffle, Lobster Thermidor and Floating Islands.

We had several students who “killed their first lobster”. Of course, the question invariably arises about the pain lobsters feel as they are being dropped into the pot of boiling water. I did some research and while the debate will probably rage for years to come, the majority of evidence suggests that lobsters simply aren’t intelligent enough nor developed enough to feel pain. Pain is a neurological event while suffering is an emotional event. Your emotional makeup indicates the degree to which you feel the suffering when you stick your foot into a too warm bath. Others might laugh and call you a sissy at the same temperature. Julia Child could stick her hand into a pot of boiling water to grab a piece of pasta. Not me!! My tolerance to suffering is not that high.

Lobsters have a very very tiny brain scientifically proven to be smaller than the size of a grasshopper. They also do not have a central nervous system. These two non-components in their physiological makeup make them less likely to experience pain or to recognize suffering.

What about the hiss or “scream” which lobsters make? The occasional leg thrash? This is simply steam or water being introduced between the shell and the lobster meat. Lobsters have no vocal cords and therefore cannot scream. While this certainly won’t end the questions there are some steps you can take to ensure that you limit any potential pain or suffering this creature might make as you prepare him for dinner.

1. Make sure the water is boiling hot.

2. Do not add more lobsters than can be adequately covered by the water without bringing down the temperature (I recommend cooking them one or two at a time until you have finished them all. Simply remove the cooked lobsters from the pot and hold them while you boil the remainder.)

3. Put the lobster in head first and hold it in the water with tongs.

4. Do not take the rubber bands off of the claws to avoid the lobster grabbing onto the side of the pot, the tongs, etc.

“Have you seen Julie and Julia yet?” “Wasn’t Julie and Julia just the cutest movie?” during classes shamed me into going to the theater for the first time in years. Does Cat Woman with Halle Berry send shivers down anyone’s spine?!? After endless previews of movies I have never heard of …. remember Cat Woman …. we settled in for the main attraction… Julia Child. At least it was the main attraction for me. I really knew nothing of Julie Powell except she had written a blog which prompted the making of a movie about… Julia!

Guess I should have brought some paper with me! After the first three or four dishes I knew I was going to have a hard time keeping up. Out comes the Blackberry. I knew I would find a use for that notepad feature hidden away in there someday! Not wanting everyone to think I was being rude and talking on my phone, I surreptitiously tucked my phone between my legs and frantically typed the first three recipes in. Sole Meuniere. Chicken with Mushrooms, Port and Cream. Poached Eggs. New scene and a search for bone marrow. Aspic of all sorts. Phone between my legs typing “aspic of all sorts”. Next scene and a dinner party featuring Lobster Thermidor and a spirited conversation about the merits of Pay Pal. Dinner with a publisher and the oh so talked about Boeuf Bourgignonne. More surreptitious typing. Actually, the typing is quiet… it’s the light that pops on during the first keystroke which is reminiscent of a beacon in the darkness.

When I got home and looked at the list I realized that I never really got a full meal and would have to do a bit more research. So to the Julie Powell blog I went. It was never my intention to read the entire blog but research is research and there are no lengths I won’t go to to get a class right. With typical Hollywood license, the movie and blog aren’t one and the same. I guess that after Julie made Chicken with Mushrooms, Port and Cream she was too tired to make anything to go with it. Or once she mastered that stuffed duck she got her sides at Boston Market! Nonetheless, I tried to stay as true to the movie as I could. The result turned into three classes…. I’ll let you know how they go!