Lobster Nitty-Gritty

Credit: Christopher Hirsheimer

It's easy to confuse tomalley and roe in a lobster. The tomalley is a lobster's liver. This soft, sage green mass, located in the body, is widely considered a delicacy. It can either be scooped from a cooked lobster and eaten as is or added raw to sauces for body and complexity. The roe, or coral, is the eggs in a female lobster; they run from the body toward the tail. They are greenish black when raw—at which point they may be added to sauces for texture and flavor—but turn bright orange when cooked.