Food - Drink
Here's What The Green Stuff In Lobster Actually Is
ByKALEA MARTIN
The idea of a lobster being green instead of red sounds off-putting, but lobster with lots of green stuff on the inside is considered a delicacy in the culinary world. The green coating on the meat is known as tomalley, which has a ton of flavor and can be enjoyed in different ways.
Tomalley is actually the lobster's hepatopancreas, an organ that is essentially the liver and pancreas combined. Tomalley can be scraped off the meat and used to add flavor to dishes or sauces, or used as a spread like pate, but it's usually eaten by itself along with the lobster meat.
A lobster's hepatopancreas is part of its digestive system, but it doesn't contain undigested food or waste. Tomalley is usually safe to eat; however, if your lobster was harvested from waters undergoing a red tide, its meat is safe to eat, but the tomalley can contain toxins.