Where Does The Lobster Roll Actually Come From?

When I think of lobster rolls, I think of a warm summer day on the East Coast, strolling down a nameless boardwalk with seagulls preparing to nose dive at my sandwich. Even though I've never been to an East Coast boardwalk, I connect buttery lobster rolls with that part of the country because that's where they became famous. While New England states like Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont are most well-known for serving lobster rolls, like a lot of food origin stories, the history of the lobster roll is murky and we may never know where the first one was truly created. 

After all, in the past, there weren't folks ready with smartphones to take a photo or video of their meal. According to historians, it's possible that no one person or restaurant can take full credit for this popular seafood meal. Still, there has to be someone who made the first soft and succulent shellfish sandwich, and according to Perry's restaurant in Milford, Connecticut, the lobster roll was invented there.

While the components of the lobster roll are quite simple, the flavor profile is complex. When done right, it's a tasty afternoon treat to enjoy when the sun is high and there's a beach nearby. It's one of those foods that seems like it's always existed because the ingredients fit together so well. However, all great recipes have to start somewhere. 

Legend has it that in 1927, a restaurant owner named Harry Perry made a sandwich for a customer who wanted their order to go. The customer asked for a grilled lobster sandwich, and Perry delivered with what we now know as the lobster roll. Initially, he put the lobster meat on white bread, but later, he switched it to the submarine bun to hold the fixings better. The roll was a hit from there on out, and Perry's became the "Home of the Lobster Roll." 

However, some sources suggest that lobster rolls — or at least something very similar — have been around a lot longer than that. Some historians credit the invention of the lobster roll to Lydia Maria Child who included a cold lobster recipe in her 1829 cookbook, "The American Frugal Housewife."  This dish suggests cooks serve cold lobster salad with a mustard, oil, egg yolk, and vinegar dressing –  not a million miles from the sauces used on lobster rolls. No matter where the idea came from, I'm glad it exists.