Method
Lobster

Cut the lobster tails in half, then cut each half into 4 pieces (more, if your lobster is large). Put on a baking tray and season with freshly ground cardamom. Cut the claws in half across the middle so they can stand up. Chop the rest of the tail meat into small dice for the salad. 

Curried mayonnaise

Toast the curry powder in a dry pan, then add the oil and leave to infuse. Mix together the mayonnaise and yoghurt in a bowl, then pour in the curried oil through a sieve and whisk in. Add the lime juice and salt to taste, and place in the fridge. 

Mango and lime vinaigrette

First you need to make the gastric. Put the cardamom pods into a food processor and blend until broken up. Roast the cardamom seeds in a dry pan until they release their aroma, then add the stock syrup (and strained re-boiled liquid), bring to the boil, and cook until it reaches 110°C and has reduced. Add the glucose, lime juice and zest. Bring back to the boil and heat to 110°C again. 

Strain off the gastric through a sieve, pressing well with a ladle. Reserve a large tablespoon of the gastric for later, and use the rest to make the vinaigrette as follows.
Vinaigrette: Put the mango purée into a blender and blend in the gastric. Add the groundnut oil, season with salt and pepper, and add a little lime juice if needed for acidity. Leave to cool, then check the seasoning.

To assemble

Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3. Brush the lobster with some lobster oil or olive oil, and put into the oven for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pour some of the mango, lime and cardamom vinaigrette on to each serving plate and drizzle over some of the reserved cardamom gastric. Using two large dessert spoons, mould the lobster salad mixture into quenelles and place one in the middle of each plate. Now remove the lobster pieces from the oven and squeeze some lime juice over them. Place 1 claw and 4 pieces of tail on each plate, and spoon any oil over and around. Now spoon on 5 dots of curried mayonnaise of different sizes to make the plate look interesting – I put my mayonnaise in a squeezy bottle and pipe it, but if you don’t have one of those, a spoon is fine. Sprinkle the herbs over, and finish with grated lime zest and a dusting of freshly ground cardamom.

Court-bouillon for cooking lobster and poaching salmon

This is a classic court-bouillon for fish and lobster. It’s important that you cook the vegetables well, to extract their full flavour before adding the seafood. Put the vegetables into a large saucepan and add the water. Bring to the boil, then add the herbs, peppercorns, white wine and salt. Simmer for 15 minutes, then use for cooking lobsters or poaching fish. Once cooled, the cooked lobster can be kept in the bouillon in the fridge for up to 5 days.