PORTLAND (AP) – This is the time of year when lobster from the Gulf of Maine commands top dollar, but price is no object in places like Italy, France and Spain.

Americans cut back on lobster in winter, but Europeans serve it at their Christmas and New Year parties, said Kathy Spitzer, a saleswoman for the William Atwood Lobster Co. in Spruce Head, Maine’s largest lobster distributor.

“It’s their traditional fare, like ours is the Thanksgiving turkey,” she said. “It’s amazing. It’s the only time of year when price is not a deterrent.”

East Coast Seafoods in Lynn, Mass., does about 20 percent of its annual export business during the two-week holiday period, shipping 1.5 million to 2 million pounds of lobsters to Europe.

Owner Michael Tourkistas said the bountiful supply of American lobster, Homarus americanus, supplements the much scarcer supply of European lobster, Homarus gammarus. The two species are almost identical, he said.

The import trade began in Canada during the 1950s when European catches were dwindling and entrepreneurs began shipping planeloads of lobsters from Nova Scotia to France. As a result, Frenchmen today continue to call all lobsters from North America “homard du Canada.”

At this time of year, that’s only a slight exaggeration. Maine’s lobster catches are much smaller in winter, but the season opened Nov. 28 in the rich lobster grounds off southwest Nova Scotia, generating huge catches for the live Christmas and New Year’s market.

Many of the lobsters caught by Canadians for export to Europe are packaged and shipped by companies in New England. Tourkistas said at least half of the lobsters exported by East Coast Sea Food come from Canada.

Italy, France, Spain, Belgium and Germany are his top European customers, he said. The market in Asia is much smaller but growing, he said, noting that in Asia, the American lobster is called the “Boston lobster.”

Europeans prepare lobster in various ways. These including boiling, roasting on a grill, or sautDeing the meat with tomatoes and onions.

Tourkistas said the French typically add more spices, while Americans tend to eat their lobster plain. One French dish is “homard belle-aurore,” which is lobster sauted with creamy tomato sauce and a quarter cup of brandy.

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Information from: Portland Press Herald, https://www.pressherald.com

AP-ES-12-25-05 1213EST