Preparation time: 20 minutes

This is a classic sauce for shellfish and sole created by Pierre Fraisse, a Parisian chef of the 1860s. One days, some customers showed up at his restaurant very late and asked for supper, pointing out they had only an hour to eat. Not having time to cook lobsters in court-bouillon, Fraisse invented this sauce and quickly poached the cut up lobster meat in it. The guests asked what this delicious recipe was called and Pierre, on the spur of the moment, called it Lobster à l'américaine because he had worked as a chef in Chicago and the cooking there was sometimes.... faster!