All lobster in Cuba belongs to Fidel. It is illegal for fishermen in Cuba to sell lobster, anything they take they must turn in to a cooperative. It is illegal for tourists to buy lobster. We would never do anything illegal. So we never bought lobster. We did however indulge in a lot of Sea Chicken, also known as Australian Crab.

When three men on a styrofoam raft row two miles offshore to sell you some Sea Chicken for $1 a tail, who was I to refuse such budding entrepreneurship? I was more than happy to support the local economy. Heck, sometimes they didn’t even want money! If there’s nothing to buy, what’s the point of having a few bucks? So many times, they would ask to trade some sea chicken for a bottle of rum, or perhaps a t-shirt. What a deal.

What’s for breakfast? Sea chicken omelets. What’s for lunch? Sea chicken wraps. Snack? Sea chicken sushi rolls. How about dinner? Sea chicken in garlic sauce. It was at this point that I was beginning to regret buying 20 sea chickens. Mutiny was brewing and I was running out of creative ways to disguise the lobster. Ah, the problems of cruising.

Sea Chicken Pizza

This can be done in the oven or on the barbeque.

1 batch of pizza dough
1 cup tomato sauce OR ½ cup basil pesto
2 cups grated mozzarella
2 cups cooked cubed lobster
½ cup green pepper, finely diced
1 tomato sliced thinly
good olive oil

Oven pizza:

1. Preheat the oven to 500°F/260°C. The oven must be really hot.
2. Lightly grease a pizza pan and sprinkle it with cornmeal.
3. On a well floured surface, stretch the pizza dough to form a large circle. Place the dough on the pizza pan.
4. Spread the dough with the tomato sauce or the pesto. Arrange the cheese over top. Top with the tomato slices, green pepper and lobster.
5. Drizzle the pizza lightly with the olive oil.
6. Bake until the crust is golden, about 15 minutes.

Barbeque pizza:

1. Preheat the barbeque to hot.
2. Lightly grease a pizza pan and sprinkle it with cornmeal.
3. On a well floured surface, stretch the pizza dough to form a large circle. Place the dough on the pizza pan.
4. Put the pizza pan on the barbeque and cook until the bottom of the crust is brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
5. Flip the dough over. On the cooked side, spread the tomato sauce or the pesto. Arrange the cheese over top. Top with the tomato slices, green pepper and lobster.
6. Drizzle the pizza lightly with the olive oil.
7. Put the pizza back on the barbeque and close the cover. Cook until the crust is golden, about 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on the crust when using the barbeque, it burns easily.

PIZZA TIPS:

• Mozzarella is best because it gets gooey and stringy when cooked. But really, any cheese with do. Yes, even Cheese Whiz can be used in a pinch (although Cheese Whiz and lobster is stretching it a bit.)
• if you don’t have a pizza pan, you can use several sheets of tin foil folded together, just be careful about it burning!
• Cheeses wrapped in wax (like Edam or Gouda) will keep without refrigeration for up to 6 months. Buy the smaller portions (about the size of a hockey puck) and use it within a day of opening.