Grab a bowl, a crab knocker, and a knife
Crabs—who doesn’t
love them? I’m talking about the incredibly edible crustacean, the Atlantic
blue crab, of course. A stable fare around the Chesapeake Bay and beyond for
centuries, I wonder who the first brave soul was who threw a few on the fire
and decided to chow down. Bet they wished they had some Old Bay seasoning…
If you live
anywhere near the Chesapeake watershed, you’ve been exposed to crab mania.
Crabs are a focal point of many activities in this area.
If you like
participating in individual sports, you might try pursuing these delectables.
Whether “chicken necking” (tying a string to a chicken neck and tossing it off
the end of a pier to wait for a nibble) or trot lining (same principle, but
with a long line and multiple chunks of dangling chicken or eel that you follow
along in a skiff to check). As for team sports, we even have a baseball team
named the Blue Crabs!
For the culinary
aspects, there are crab balls, crab cakes, crab imperial, crab meat omelets,
crab dip… There are hard crabs and soft
crabs. A crab is “soft” when it grows and molts, but it doesn’t stay soft long
and is a special delicacy. Speaking of fried soft crabs, I’m aware that some
restaurants remove the legs before frying. Although the uninitiated might be
traumatized by seeing crab legs dangling from their burger buns, omitting this
crunchy delicacy is an atrocity.
Crabs are a great
source of art in the region, inspiring paintings, pennants, summer flags, etc.
I’ve personally been moved to do several wood carvings featuring our denizen of
the deep.
The blue crab
even touches on politics. The female crab wears an apron that’s shaped like the
U.S. Capitol while the male’s is an image of the Washington Monument.
Even the literary
world is moved by the blue crab. I’ll share a snippet from the beginning of the
third book in the Legends of the Family Dyer trilogy, “Sons and Brothers.”
“The trotline
cord glided through the johnboat’s roller system. The stains of dredged mud and
deep-water slime gave testament to many trips here. The trolling motor was
locked at an angle to maintain the boat’s course, compensating for the incoming
tide’s pull.
He felt the
jerk on the line, gentle at first as the creature took hold, then a stout pull
as it latched on to his offering. He peered through the murky depths and saw
the creature’s mouth open and close, savoring its victim’s flesh.
As if sensing
danger, the sea dweller flailed one claw from side to side in warning, prepared
to defend its right to the captured prey. Its smaller claw and saber-tipped
legs skewered the exposed meat and fat, unwilling to share. As it was pulled
toward the surface, greed trumped caution, and the predator became the prey. Brodie
readied his net as the ghostly crab floated closer to the surface until…
With a flip of
his wrist, he moved his net under and up. The large blue crab broke the surface
in a clacking frenzy of legs and claws. He noticed the long thin apron and
smiled.”
I’m proud to say
that the crab world recognizes no racism and truly does not see color because they’re
all orange after a few minutes in the steamer! Sexism is a different story. If
you start keeping too many female crabs, folks are going to talk about you (and
it’s illegal for recreational crabbers). If you keep a sponge crab (a female
with eggs attached), well you should maybe think about moving to another state.
Few things in
life are as much fun (crabbing) and promise as great a reward (crab eating!).
Crabs are the
basis for many special social events along the Chesapeake watershed and the
camaraderie around a crab picking table is unmatched. Be aware, though, you may
get your hand slapped if you reach in for a particularly “fat” crab that’s in
closer proximity to your neighbor’s bowl than your own! To be invited to a crab
feast by a local means you are accepted. So, welcome, friends! Grab a bowl, a
crab knocker and a knife. It’s time to feast!
For Steamed
Crabs You Need
1 large steamer
pot
Crabs!
1½ cups water
1½ cups of
vinegar
¼ cup salt
3 TBS of Old Bay
seasoning
Directions
Bring the liquids
and salt to a boil and add in 2 tbsp of the Old Bay seasoning.
Place the steamer
section into the pot, making sure the steamer bottom is not touching the
liquid.
Transfer your live
crabs into the steamer pot one by one. Put a layer of crabs down and
sprinkle them with Old Bay seasoning. If you have more crabs you can do up to
two more layers right on top of the first layer, sprinkling each layer with Old
Bay. If more, do a second batch.
Blue crabs take about
20-30 minutes to cook. The crabs should be bright red with no trace of blue or
green on them. Let the crabs cool before cleaning them.
David W.
Thompson
https://www.david-w-thompson.com
David is a multiple
award-winning author, Army veteran, and graduate of UMUC. He’s a multi-genre
writer and a member of the Horror Writers’ Association, and the Science Fiction
& Fantasy Writers Association. When not writing, Dave enjoys family,
kayaking, fishing, hiking, hunting, winemaking, and woodcarving.
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