I was flying east five days before hitting the Eastern Shore, so I couldn’t pack them with me. We’ll settle the matter over an amazing feast of both coasts’ prized crustaceans. (Serendipitously, I knew the owner Pamela Barefoot from my days editing Simply Seafood magazine we often featured products from her Blue Bay Crab Company.)Īfter some friendly whose-crab-is-best banter on Facebook (heavily weighted toward cheers for Dungeness with a few staunch blue fans and some diplomatically calling them both good, too different to compare), I decided to take some Dungeness on vacation with me. I picked it because of the size, location and mention of a dock with crab pots on hand, a near-guarantee of fresh blue crabs. I’d be staying at a place called Baytop Cottage that I had randomly chosen while hunting on VRBO. I just couldn’t let it go without comment.Īs it happened, I was heading to Virginia in a few weeks’ time. It was chef Spike Gjerde who made the brash claim in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, a reflection made to accompany his recipe for Maryland deviled crab dip presented in the paper. By comparison, Dungeness doesn’t even rate.” “Our crabs are the sweetest and most tender. And it was a Baltimore chef I’ve never met who started it all. A friendly showdown to see which was the best crab in town. Between us were two piles of crab: three fat Dungeness crab facing her, and a mound of recently-harvested blues in front of me. Across the table from me was Lorraine Eaton, food writer for the Virginian-Pilot. Most call a Large a Premium or something of the sort, measuring (5.5”-6 ¼”).There we sat in the shade of enormous walnut trees in late June, a cove that meanders in from the Chesapeake Bay just steps away. Dead crabs disappoint every time! Here’s the official scale: Small (5”-5.5”). Live crabs steam to a tender, salty-sweet meat. Our crab crew knows what to do! With the official grading scale, they take the LIVE crabs and measure them point-to point for an exact sizing. We keep to the standards for every catch! Don’t fill up too much on the sides though. Consider bacon-wrapped scallops, gulf white shrimp salad, and warm corn bread muffins as worthy sides. Pick up some of our Delmarva Dipping Sauce for a tangy sweet complement to the crabs. Male crabs boast salty-sweet flaky meat, while females taste sweeter with a bit more compacted meat. You already won by picking a USA Blue Crab. Planning a spring crab feast should give the most comfort in “feel good” sides. Knowing your crab size will help you plan winter crab feast sides. Finally, females, some say sweeter, but definitely with denser meat, burst a bushel with about 7 dozen crabs. Plan accordingly, the crab feaster savors between 6-8 crabs per sitting. Bays require some more picking, but do include claw, lump, and jumbo meat too. Jimmies, a customer favorite touts the name “Number 1 Crab” fills a bushel with about 6 dozen. Jumbos represent the mature crabs and weigh down a bushel at about 5 dozen. Crabs live between 3-4 years, growing in and out of their shells several times during the season. Our crew smiles at some of behemoth crabs that get packed into a jumbo bushel. Each crab category ships either as a dozen, half bushel, or bushel quantity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |