I love the taste of crab in the morning… or evening for that matter. The sweet taste of cooked and chilled fresh crab, picked from the shell, over a glass of Sauvignon Blanc would make anyone feel better after a hard day of work.
I was in Brussels on my honeymoon (September 1991, yes that is a long time ago!) when I first tried the cold crab. On Rue des Bouchers, every seafood joint will put out a seafood display to entice the passersby to come in for supper. Each place tries to out-do the other on the daily ritual of displaying the seafood. Oysters, mussels, lobster, crab and all types of fish were laid out.
We chose one place and ordered the seafood tower and a bottle of crisp white wine. Sitting on the narrow patio and watching the people walk by, sipping and snacking on cold crab was a treat not to be forgotten!
A friend, George Dowdle, told me he could get dome Rock Crab from New London Bay, PEI, so I thought I’s give it a try. Some good, as they say down east. Small in stature, bigger than a blue crab, and the same shape as the dungeness crab, the PEI rocks are as good as they come! Sweet and crabby goodness comes in Monday and Thursday with the Green Gables Oysters, until Mother Nature says they’re done.
To cook a "mess o’ crabs" it is best to get them cold in an ice bath first. This gets them into a hibernate state. Sometimes, if you cook them straight out of the box, the little legs will pop off.
Get a salted stock (water salty enough to taste like the ocean), a few veggies to make a court bouillon, and a bottle of beer and bring it all to a rolling boil. Skim off the veggies and plunk in your crabs and boil for about 15 minutes, or until they start to float to the top. Once they are cooked, either eat them right away, or put them in an ice bath to chill them down quickly.
Shuckingly yours, Paddy
Patrick McMurray is the owner of Starfish Oyster Bed & Grill and The Ceili Cottage. He is also a World Champion Oyster Shucker. Catch his blog weekly at PostCity.com.