Classic Canadian Dishes: The Lobster Roll

By Gabby Peyton

Summer on the East Coast of Canada can be summed up in a few words: salty breezes, lighthouses, and lobster rolls. There is no shortage of love for lobster in the Atlantic provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, so much so it’s almost a rite of passage to track down a feast of the crimson crustacean when visiting, and many celebrations are enjoyed over a table of cracked claws and drawn butter.

The history of lobster in Canada

It was the Mi’kmaq who first fished lobsters off the coast of the Atlantic provinces in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, known to them as “Wolum Keeh.” Later, as settlers from England and France started to fish the waters, lobster fishing was industrialized.

Full-blown lobster fisheries in Canada started in the mid 19th century, notably in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. In the 1800s canning and transporting lobster was perfected and hundreds of canneries sprouted up across the Maritimes and Newfoundland, mostly small, family-run enterprises. At this time, lobster was still a poor man’s protein; it was inexpensive and underappreciated.

But by the end of the first world war, the price of lobster went up drastically, taking it from common canned comestible to the luxury ingredient it’s known as today.

Lobster Dinners

By the mid-20th century, lobsters became a tourist attraction and eating them on the East Coast has become a rite of passage when road-tripping through the eastern provinces.

The now world-famous lobster suppers really came into their own throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, with dozens of spots to dive into a bucket of mussels across the Atlantic provinces. Places like the New Glasgow Lobster Suppers in Prince Edward Island or the Shore Club in Hubbards, Nova Scotia, offer up fantastic lobster dinners featuring all- you -can -eat chowder, mussels and huge lobsters (bibs are a requirement for this meal).

All roads lead to the Lobster Roll

While New England in the United States and the Maritimes in Canada are famous for their lobster rolls, the origin story for the lobster roll itself is a little murky.

Some historians credit the lobster fishers themselves with creating the dish. In the late 1890s when the east coast lobster fisheries were in full swing, the fishers would cook up the lobsters, put the meat on buns and sell them to tourists.

In restaurants, the first listing of a lobster roll appeared in the late 1920s at a place in Milford, Connecticut called Perry’s, and it took off. By the 1990s the lobster roll had reached East Coast Canadian canon — the McLobster was invented at the McDonald’s in Antigonish, Nova Scotia in 1993. Today, if you want a lobster roll, you can’t drive 10 feet into Nova Scotia without coming across a restaurant selling them. The Nova Scotia Lobster Trail has a map you can follow to try all the great spots along the coast.

Hungry for more? Check out these Classic Canadian Dishes:

• In a Jam(Jam): The History of Jam Jams in Canada
• Meat Pie Magic: The History of Tourtière
• Triple Threat: A History of the Nanaimo Bar
• Delicious Squared: History of Date Squares
• The History of Pea Soup in Canada
• The History of Baked Beans in Canada
• The History of the Iconic Jiggs Dinner
• Classic Canadian Dishes: Pouding Chômeur
• Classic Canadian Dishes: Saskatoon Pie
• Classic Canadian Dishes: Cod au Gratin