Contestants get to gobble free lobster

KENNEBUNKPORT – New York’s Coney Island has its hot-dog-eating contest. New Orleans has an oyster-eating contest. Now Maine is getting into the act, with the state’s famous crustacean in the starring role.

The Maine Lobster Promotion Council is holding five lobster-eating contests at summer festivals across the state. A World Championship Maine Lobster-Eating Contest will be held on Aug. 18 in Kennebunkport.

Heidi Thompson, a spokeswoman for the council, said that to her knowledge there had never been a lobster-eating contest in Maine until last year.

She said she’s not sure why no one thought of it before. Perhaps it’s because many view lobster, which was selling for $6.99 a pound Monday in Maine, as a delicacy to be savored, not devoured with reckless abandon.

That highfalutin perception will be shattered at five contests in which 10 participants will be given four lobsters apiece. The first to rip through the shells and eat the lobster meat will be declared the winner.

“I think a lot of people think of lobsters as a delicacy but … lobster is really about having fun in Maine,” Thompson said.

Contestants will be instructed on the proper way to crack open and eat a lobster, but there will be no points awarded for style. Contestants are required to devour the tail, claws, knuckles and at least two legs.

The winner of each event will get a free gourmet kit and four of them will have the chance to eat even more lobster at the world championship.

The championship in Kennebunkport was launched last year by former state Sen. John Hathaway, owner of the Sea Star Grille, and will be sanctioned this year by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

Hathaway’s rules are different. He allows each contestant to have a helper digging out the meat. Last year’s winner ate 16 lobsters in eight minutes.

George Shea from the International Federation of Competitive Eating in New York said he expects the lobster contest to be popular with professional eaters. But it won’t overtake Nathan’s Famous hot-dog-eating contest anytime soon.

“The Nathan’s Famous is the granddaddy of them all. However, there is a cachet and magic associated with Maine lobster,” Shea said from New York. “People are going to be dying to see how much they can eat.”