I had assumed that I was buying Canadian or Maine lobsters. Not only are they almost always less expensive, but they are also available most of the year, whereas Scottish and Cornish, or ‘native’, lobsters are usually only seen in spring and summer. But there I was, staring at these creatures in their tanks in my local Chinese supermarket, and their dark blue-black bodies (American lobsters tend to a rusty green-brown sort of colour) were clear enough evidence that these were natives, and natives at an attractive price. Not cheap, of course, but reasonable.