MARITIME 



MORSELS 



Crabby Fare 



a glutton for all species of 

 seafood, but if forced to choose a favor- 

 ite I'd have to say the succulent meat of 

 the blue crab reigns king of the sea on 

 my plate. The moist, flaky morsels of 

 meat have a delicate sweetness that is 

 rich and rarefied. No other crab — not 

 Dungeness, snow, stone or king — can 

 quite measure up in flavor or texture. 



But perhaps my affinity for the blue 

 crab is more than good taste. My first 

 ocean catch some 20-plus years ago was 

 a blue crab, scooped up with a handheld 

 net after patiently dangling a chicken 

 neck on a string in Topsail Sound. I was 

 fascinated by the feisty crustaceans, and 

 it wasn't long before I was helping my 

 friend Beverly Mills bait and later 

 empty her family's two crab pots. 



What naturally followed — the 

 aroma of crabs being steamed with 

 packets of fragrant spices — became 

 another sensory delight that I fondly 

 associate with the Tar Heel coast. 

 Beverly's mother would dump baskets 

 of steaming orange crabs (the crabs turn 

 from blue-green to a bright orange 

 during cooking) onto a newspaper- 

 covered table for us to clean. 



The ensuing picking — the 

 extraction of the lumps of sweet meat 

 from the crab's claws and compartmen- 

 talized body — was a labor of love. You 

 had to really love crabmeat to labor so 

 much for a pound of it. 



For me, it was worth it. You can't 

 beat crab cakes chock-full of fresh crab 

 and held together with a scant amount of 

 breading and a few eggs. 



These days I rarely catch my own, 

 choosing instead to occasionally splurge 

 $12 to $16 for a pound of fresh 

 crabmeat or $8 to $10 for an 8-ounce 



By Kathy Hart 



container of pasteurized meat. The fresh 

 crab should be used quickly, usually 

 within two days of purchase. Crabmeat 

 has a short shelf life and will spoil 

 quickly. Unopened pasteurized 

 crabmeat can be stored for up to six 

 months in the refrigerator. But once 

 opened, it too should be consumed 

 quickly. 



To me, fresh crabmeat is always 

 best. It's more flavorful and moist than 

 meat that has undergone the additional 

 processing step involved in pasteuriza- 

 tion. But the pasteurized meat is a close 

 second and often a cheaper option since 

 it's sold in smaller containers. 



Generally, fresh and pasteurized 

 crabmeat is marketed and priced 

 according to three grades: lump, special 

 and claw. 



Lump, also called backfin, is 

 always the most expensive and contains 

 only large chunks of snow-white meat 

 taken from the body of the crab. Lump 

 meat is used in recipes where appear- 

 ance is important, such as in cocktails or 

 salads. 



Special contains smaller pieces of 

 meat taken from the body of the crab. 

 It's just as tasty as the lump and is used 

 in soups, casseroles and baked dishes. It 

 is moderately priced. 



Claw meat is tinged brown and, 

 as the name suggests, is extracted from 

 the crab's claws. It is the least expensive 

 and is used in recipes such as casseroles 

 or stuffing where appearance isn't 

 important. 



Most crabmeat is handpicked, but 

 some is mechanically extracted. Before 

 using any crabmeat in a recipe, you 

 should place it in a bowl and sift 

 through it with your fingers for several 



minutes to remove any shell or cartilage. 



Following are some of my favorite 

 crabmeat recipes — ones that I've 

 developed because of my hunger for the 

 sweetness of the cooked crustaceans. 



Crab Ball 



• 6 to 8 ounces of fresh, pasteurized 

 or canned crabmeat 



• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese 



• 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs 



• 1 teaspoon horseradish sauce 



• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 



• 1 clove garlic (pressed) 



• Seafood Sauce (recipe follows) 



Combine crabmeat, cream cheese, 

 bread crumbs, horseradish sauce, 

 Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Form 

 into a ball and refrigerate overnight to 

 allow flavors to blend. Before serving, 

 pour sauce over ball. Serve with 

 crackers. 



Seafood Sauce 



• 1/2 cup ketchup 



• 2 tablespoons horseradish sauce 



• 1 tablespoon lemon juice 



Carolina Crab Cakes with 

 Creamy Horseradish Sauce 



This recipe appears in Desperation 

 Dinners, a cookbook published by 

 Workman Publishing and written by 

 Alicia Ross and my friend Beverly Mills. 

 Mills asked me for a recipe that could 

 be prepared and cooked in 20 minutes 

 — the criteria for all of the recipes 

 published in the book. I immediately 

 thought of this one, which uses the 

 crabby crustaceans she had introduced 

 to me many years ago at Topsail Beach. 



32 SPRING 1999 



