Lobster Armoricaine

Place each live lobster in the freezer for 20 minutes to sedate it. Split each lobster in half lengthways with a sharp heavy chef's knife, cutting through the head first then the tail in one decisive stroke. Twist off the claws and crack them once with the back of the knife. Remove and discard the stomach sac from the head cavity. Reserve any coral (roe) and the creamy tomalley in a small bowl. Cut each tail half into 3 pieces through the shell. Pat all pieces dry with kitchen paper and season with salt and pepper.

Finely dice the onion, shallots, garlic, carrot, and celery. Peel, deseed, and chop the tomatoes. Tie the bouquet garni. Measure out the cognac, wine, fish stock, tomato purée, cayenne, and paprika.

Heat the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large, wide, heavy-bottomed sauté pan or Dutch oven over high heat until the butter foams and begins to colour. Add the lobster pieces cut-side down in a single layer — work in batches if needed — and sear for 3 minutes until the shells turn vivid red and the cut flesh is golden at the edges.

Remove the lobster pieces to a plate. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion, shallots, carrot, and celery to the same pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes until softened and lightly golden.

Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes until fragrant.

Return the lobster pieces to the pan. Pour in the cognac and tilt the pan away from you to flambé, or ignite carefully with a long match, and let the flames die out completely — this takes approximately 1 minute.

Pour in the white wine and bring to a vigorous boil over high heat. Cook for 5 minutes until reduced by half.

Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, fish stock, cayenne, paprika, and bouquet garni. Stir to combine, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened and deepened in colour. Check lobster tail pieces reach an internal temperature of 63°C using a meat thermometer, then transfer all lobster pieces to a warm plate and cover loosely with foil.

Remove the bouquet garni. If you reserved coral or tomalley, mash it with the remaining 2 tablespoons of cold butter in the small bowl until smooth, then whisk this mixture into the simmering sauce off the heat to enrich and gloss it. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Return the lobster pieces to the pan, scatter over the tarragon and parsley, and heat gently for 2 minutes over low heat to warm through without overcooking.

Serve immediately directly from the pan, finished with extra fresh tarragon, alongside crusty baguette or steamed rice to catch the sauce.