(New) Lobster Newberg (Newburg)

The variant spelling is only the tip of the iceberg (iceburg) of controversy floating around the famous dish, which originated, many believe, at the Hotel Fauchere in Milford, a regional landmark on which restoration is scheduled to begin this summer.

A signature dish of the elegant hotel, Lobster Newberg is generally credited to Louis Fauchere, once a chef at the fabulous Delmonico’s in New York City who took over a modest Milford inn in 1852, building it into an icon of the Gilded Age and leaving it to younger generations to run, highly successfully, until 1976. A rival claim for its creation is made by Caesar Chiappini, who, as master chef of the Fauchere for 42 years (1926-1968), certainly deserves, if nothing else, credit for perfecting and popularizing it.

The most entertaining version of its creation, though, places its origin back in Delmonico’s, where a patron and shipping magnate by the name of Ben Wenberg requested a resident chef to prepare lobster as he had recently had it served in South America. The dish was an immediate hit and became the darling of Delmonico’s menu as “Lobster Wenberg.” Wenberg was eventually banished from the restaurant after a fistfight, but the lobster dish was too successful to banish with him, so it was renamed “Lobster Newberg.”

Be controversial—try this at home and earn the right to name it after yourself.

Be warned—amounts are not specific for this old, anecdotal recipe:

one freshly boiled lobster, cooled
sweet cream
unsalted butter, clarified
French cognac
Spanish sherry
cayenne pepper

Detach lobster tail, slice into thin, flat pieces, arrange in a single layer in a hot chafing dish, and sauté briefly in clarified butter.  Add some cream, a little cognac and sherry, and allow to simmer for a few minutes. Add cayenne just before serving.

Eat very well indeed.