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By Root 1095 0

Claiborne wrote, “in a Norfolk aluminum pan,” a sort of gratin that was manufactured in Norfolk at the time. Hence the name Crabmeat Norfolk. The recipe here approximates the original. To accompany it I like fluffy boiled rice and a salad of crisp greens or, even better, fresh asparagus drizzled with olive oil, then roasted for 10 to 12 minutes in a 400° F. oven.

1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for bits of shell and cartilage, then flaked

1½ tablespoons white wine vinegar or tarragon vinegar

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon hot red pepper sauce

¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small dice

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F.

2. Place the crab in a medium-size mixing bowl; add the vinegar, salt, hot pepper sauce, and Worcestershire sauce, and toss lightly. Transfer to an ungreased, nonreactive 1-quart gratin dish and dot evenly with the butter.

3. Slide onto the middle oven shelf and bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes or until bubbly.

4. Serve at once.

Harder than a landlord’s heart.

—DAMON RUNYON, ON THE TOUGHNESS OF FLORIDA STONE CRAB SHELLS

CRISPY SOFT-SHELLS

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

“It usually comes in the third or fourth week of May, with a full waning moon,” William W. Warner writes in his Pulitzer Prize–winning Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay (1976). “Not hundreds, but thousands of peelers will be taken by the best scrappers. The first run of soft crabs, as it is always called, has begun.” When I was a little girl spending a chunk of every summer at our Chesapeake Bay cottage, an old waterman told me that a soft-shell is merely a crab that has shed its hard shell. “Only way for ’em to grow,” he explained. I wasn’t aware until years later that soft-shells were a singular delicacy. In New York we cheered the spring arrival of soft-shells, then plunged into a summer of feasting, sometimes at home but more often at restaurants where these fragile creatures were treated with respect. Today, “piling on” seems to be the mantra of trendy chefs: piling on of sauces, piling on of seasonings, piling on of garnishes and accoutrements. Too bad. I’ve yet to see anyone improve on fresh soft-shells bounced in and out of a hot skillet. And I think most Southerners would agree.

8 fresh soft-shell crabs, cleaned and dressed

½ cup unsifted all-purpose flour

¼ cup unsifted stone-ground cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons butter

2 large lemons, quartered lengthwise

1. Wash the crabs under cool running water and pat dry on paper toweling. Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, and pepper in a pie pan, then dredge the soft-shells in the mixture on both sides, shaking off the excess.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large, heavy skillet over high heat for about 2 minutes or until almost smoking.

3. Add half the crabs and cook 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until crisply browned. Lift to paper toweling to drain. Brown the rest of the crabs the same way, adding the remaining butter, and if needed, another 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.

4. Serve hot with wedges of lemon.

HERBED CRAB SALAD

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Here’s another original from Lisa Ruffin Harrison of Evelynton Plantation on the James (see her Charcoal-Grilled Shad Roe, Chapter 3). “There’s no better summer lunch in this world,” she says, “than this crab salad served in tomatoes fresh from the garden.” For hors d’oeuvre, Lisa sometimes stuffs the crab salad into cherry tomatoes; there’s enough here for six dozen. The only crabmeat to use is “backfin lump,” Lisa says. The challenge is to keep the lumps intact as you pick over the crab, removing bits of shell and cartilage, then mix in the herb mayonnaise.

4 large sun-ripened tomatoes

½ teaspoon salt

1 pound lump crabmeat

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon ground hot red pepper (cayenne)

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

4 to 5 tablespoons Fresh Herb Mayonnaise (recipe follows)

2 to 3 tablespoons finely snipped fresh chives