My initial exposure to lobster came as a youngster when my late father was posted to now defunct CFS St. Margaret’s in New Brunswick.

Who knew the five Xavier air force brats, fussy eaters we were as children, would enjoy our dad’s lobster when he offered it to us. But we did, so this meant his lobster feast was interrupted.

Many a morning we awoke to find a pile of lobster entrails and shells in the kitchen garbage can. Living on the east coast at the time, dad would feast after we went to bed.

If you missed out on purchasing a ticket for the annual Base Commander’s Downhomer Lobsterfest scheduled for June — sorry — but the event soldout soon after the tickets when on sale in the spring.

This will be my 10th lobsterfest, and last as I retire July 31 and return to the west coast. But will be there for BComd LCol Chris Woods’ first and farewell lobsterfest as he’s moving back to Ottawa in early July following his June 26 Change of Command (CoC) parade at Canoe River Memorial Park.

Meanwhile, with experience about this east coast delicacy, I was told eating a lobster is not an exercise in etiquette. Steamed or boiled, when my lobster — and the steak I’ll trade with anyone for their lobster if they are not a fan of seafood, but prefer good chunk of Canadian AAA beef — arrives I have been told to let it cool so as to avoid being scalded by boiling water when handling it.

For the veterans of lobsterfests from the past, they know to bring appetizers to hold them over after arriving sometime after 5:30 p.m. when doors open. Serving of the meal at L25 starts at 7 p.m. Bring along your own lobster tools to crack open the shell, in order to access the white flesh. Bibs will be supplied at your table, in order to avoid spreading lobster juice all over your clothes.

The simplicity of eating a lobster depends partly upon the time of year. Lobsters moult — who knew they shed their shells or skin like snakes — each year in early summer.

Just before shedding in May or June the shells are thick and hard, while the claws are difficult to break open. Just after moulting, the shells are as thin as heavy paper, the claws easy to open without tools. The shells harden within a few weeks after moulting, but an August lobster is still much easier to eat than a May lobster.

How do you eat a lobster?

Along with the hot, just-cooked lobster, you might want the following items:

• Lobster bib to protect clothing from sprays of sea water, lobster juice and butter

• Claw cracker — like a nutcracker — to crack the claws so you can extract the claw meat, which is a delicacy.

• Small fork or “lobster pick” — this slender instrument is used for extracting meat from difficult, bony places

To begin feasting on your lobster, first hold the body in one hand and the tail in the other, and break the tail off with a side-to-side motion. Holding the tail upside-down, stick a fork (upside-down) between the bottom of the shell (now facing upwards) and the tail meat and pull the whole chunk of tail meat out.

The tail is the largest meaty portion of the lobster, but there’s lots more. Each claw should be broken and the meat taken out with the small fork or lobster pick, even from the joints which connect the claw to the body. This is the most delicious part, a real delicacy.

In larger lobsters weighing more than a pound and heavier, you will find tender little bites in other places, too. Twist the four “flippers” off the end of the tail and chew out the delicate meat inside. Twist off each small leg: in the knuckle next to the body there’s a nugget, and you can chew tender meat out of each segment in a leg.

Lobster enthusiasts will tear the carapace — hard body cover — off, split the body lengthwise, and behind where each leg was attached there is a good bit of meat.

Of the innards, the gray-coloured liver — called tomalley — is edible. Restaurant chefs sometimes use it in sauces, though not everyone likes it.

If you find a waxy red substance in your lobster, you have a female. It is roe. The eggs are edible, but not a choice delicacy for some.

I will enjoy my lobster, and raise a claw to my father in his memory. June 10 is a significant date in my life: it will mark the 40th anniversary of my father’s death at age 50. Besides being a great dad, Sgt (Ret’d) Fabio ‘Swish’ Xavier introduced me to lobster.

Pass the garlic butter, please!