• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

If you get a chance to go crabbing, make sure you know how to “sex” a crab. Flip it onto its back; you’ll see what’s known as the apron. On males the apron looks tall and slender like the Washington Monument; on females it is wider and domed, like the Capitol Building. Females hold their eggs under their apron. Because they are needed to replenish the species, it’s illegal to keep females, so make sure you are harvesting only males.

QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU PULL OUT YOUR WALLET: If you’re buying live Dungies, ask when the crab was caught and how long it’s been in the tank. You’ll want to buy live crabs soon after they’ve been pulled from the water, if possible. They can lose fat (and therefore flavor) the longer they sit in tanks. If your Dungie is already cooked, ask when it was cooked (you’ll want to eat it within a day or two). If the picked crabmeat looks like it is sitting in a pool of water, walk on by—you’ll pay for that water (and seafood sitting in a pool of water tells me all I need to know about the standards of that fish market).

CARING FOR YOUR GOOD FISH: If you buy a live crab, they will probably wrap it in newspaper and put it in a bag for you. I like to throw that bag immediately into the fridge—you’ll want to cook the crab that day. Keep in mind that it is unadvisable to cook and eat dead crabs, even if they died while you had them, as bacteria multiply rapidly on dead crabs. If you catch the crab live, keep it in a bucket of clean seawater until you are ready to cook it. About thirty minutes before I want to cook a crab, I start boiling a big pot of heavily salted water and then send the crab on a short tour of my freezer. A thirty-minute chill puts the crab into a trance of sorts, slowing its metabolism and making it easier to throw into the pot.

HOW THIS TYPE OF SEAFOOD IS RAISED OR HARVESTED: Crabs are wild caught, most typically in pots, though divers or waders can grab them by hand or with a net. I’ve even seen them being caught with a fishing pole/pot hybrid, the pot lowered on the reel. Asking any two crabbers what bait they use is sure to start a heated discussion: I’ve heard everything from cat food (the stinkier, the better) to fish heads to frozen turkey drumsticks.

SUSTAINABLE SUBSTITUTES: Because of their sweet flavor, shrimp or scallops are a good substitute for Dungeness crabmeat. There are also other Pacific Coast crabs not included in this book that would work well, such as Alaska snow crab and king crab legs. In particular, look for red rock crab that can be caught recreationally (they’re delicious and mean little buggers).

CRAB THREE WAYS

When you need to buy Dungeness crabmeat you can go one of three ways:

1. Purchase pre-cooked, cleaned, and picked crabmeat. This is the most convenient option, but not necessarily the freshest option. Note that picked crabmeat has been picked from the crab but it might not have been picked through again for shell pieces, so do check it before using.

2. Purchase pre-cooked whole crab. You can ask the fishmonger to clean the crab for you, which means they will gut and rinse it. You will still have to crack and pick the meat yourself. This is an economical way to go.

3. Purchase live crab. Go to www.goodfishbook.com for a demonstration of how to cook and clean a crab. This option is desirable for the ultimate in freshness and gives you total control over the cooking process. This option is usually the same or slightly more expensive than buying pre-cooked whole crab.

A HELPFUL CONVERSION: Approximately one quarter of the crab’s weight is meat, so if you need one pound of crabmeat, you’ll need four pounds of whole crab.

dungeness crab panzanella with charred-tomato vinaigrette

2 cups halved cherry or grape

tomatoes

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-

virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

½ cup roughly chopped fresh

basil leaves

2½ cups crusty bread from a

good artisan loaf, cut into

medium cubes, crusts on

10 ounces Dungeness crabmeat

I think