Crab Meat

Remember the Maryland crab cake? It no longer exists. It has been replaced, in the hearts and appetites of Baltimore restaurant diners, by a thing called the jumbo lump crab cake. Tastes change. The crab cake once was a humble second-day meal, composed of the gleanings of a crab feast — flavorful claw meat and, if you were lucky, unbroken pieces of backfin. The restaurant crab cake of today, almost without exception, is made with jumbo lump, a packing category that didn't even exist a few generations ago. And there's another major difference: In the old days, the crab cake served in Baltimore restaurants was made from Maryland crab meat.

First in a three-part series on crabs. For Marylanders, crabs are more than a menu item. They're a way of life. Generations of Marylanders have relied on blue crabs, culled from the Chesapeake Bay, as sustenance and - in the case of watermen - for their livelihoods. Today, crabs are as much a social treat as they are a source of protein. The crab feast involves crabs, beer and lots of paper towels, and is a messy Maryland rite of passage. "Crabs are a Maryland tradition.

First in a three-part series on crabs. For Marylanders, crabs are more than a menu item. They're a way of life. Generations of Marylanders have relied on blue crabs, culled from the Chesapeake Bay, as sustenance and - in the case of watermen - for their livelihoods. Today, crabs are as much a social treat as they are a source of protein. The crab feast involves crabs, beer and lots of paper towels, and is a messy Maryland rite of passage. "Crabs are a Maryland tradition.

Michael Mina's name is familiar to Baltimore restaurant-goers from the suite of restaurants he developed for the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore - Wit & Wisdom, Pabu and Lamill Coffee. But Mina's base of operations is in San Francisco, and the Michelin-starred chef is a hardcore 49ers fan. He'll be attending the Super Bowl in New Orleans with his sons. Mina has advice for folks throwing a Super Bowl potluck party at home. His cioppino can be made in advance, so the hosts and their guests can give their full attention to the game.

Eat Maryland crab meat and win a prize. Throughout September, diners who eat at restaurants participating in Maryland's True Blue program can win a pair of tickets to the Mermaid's Kiss Oyster Fest, an after-hours celebration of Maryland seafood on Oct. 3 at the National Aquarium in Baltimore . Launched this spring by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the True Blue program allows restaurants serving DNR-verified Maryland blue...

Crab meat, rice and chili. It's hard to think of them as suspects in a whodunit.But they were in Anne Arundel County this year. Three outbreaks of restaurant food poisoning sickened 54 people, and detective work by health inspectors implicated the crab meat, rice and chili.They all had human accomplices who were the real culprits. In each outbreak, careless mistakes by food handlers allowed bacteria to contaminate the food, inspectors believe.Similar violations of basic sanitation triggered most of the 49 reported outbreaks of illness at Baltimore-area food establishments during the past three years.

Is that Maryland crab meat in your crab cake, or is it from parts unknown? Some diners can tell the difference between Maryland and imported crab meat with one bite. Some folks don't care much, but diners who do now have a way of finding restaurants that promise to serve exclusively Maryland crab meat. Launched this spring by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the True Blue program allows restaurants serving DNR-verified Maryland blue crab products to use a special logo in marketing or advertising the product to diners.

CRISFIELD -- Maryland health authorities seized 297 pounds of alleged black market crab meat as it was being unloaded at the city dock.The meat, which health officials believe had not been inspected as required under state law, was carried to Crisfield from Smith Island aboard a passenger ferry during a routine trip across Tangier Sound.The meat was confiscated at the dock yesterday after state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene inspectors, assisted by Natural Resources Police, received a tip that illegal seafood was being ferried to the Somerset County mainland, said health department spokesman Mike Golden.

CAMBRIDGE -- In a first for Maryland, a seafood processor has been ordered to pay $5,000 for falsely labeling crab meat from Pakistan as fresh-picked from the Chesapeake Bay.William Fitzhugh, owner of Tideland Seafood Inc., a Dorchester County packing house, also drew an unusual form of community service: He was ordered to instruct local students on the importance of state health and food regulations.In District Court, Mr. Fitzhugh agreed to a plea arrangement in which he was found guilty of the two most serious of nine charges.

They call it imitation crab meat. You know, those chunks of white stuff with pink edges that you find in your supermarket's fish or meat case or made into "seafood" salad in the deli department.But about 10 years ago, when I first tried imitation crab, I called it "awful."I was attending a restaurant trade show in Chicago when producers introduced imitation crab meat made from surimi, a product developed by the Japanese a millennium ago.Surimi is Alaskan pollock (or a similar fish with good gelling properties)

The soft-shell crab sandwich could be the State sandwich of Maryland. Senate Bill 26 (HB 13) will be introduced and have its first reading on January 9. If the bill passes, the soft-shell crab sandwich would become the State sandwich of Maryland, effective Oct. 1, 2013. The bill is being introduced in the Senate by Richard F. Colburn, an Eastern Shore Republican who represents portions of Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot and Wicomico counties. The Cambridge resident acknowledged that the crab cake sandwich might have been a more obvious choice.

What does the sailing community in Eastport love? It loves the Boatyard Bar and Grill. Dick Frayno opened the Boatyard Bar and Grill in the Eastport district of Annapolis in 2001. Cozy and charming, with plenty of dining and shopping options, Eastport has grown in popularity since then, and the Boatyard has established itself as a community hub for residents and tourists, and an unofficial headquarters for the city's sailing community. I think it must be outsiders who come to Annapolis looking for Chesapeake-focused cuisine.

Ever even conceive of a 300-pound crab cake? The folks at Handy International did -- breaking their own record for World's Largest Crab Cake and serving it up to attendees of the Maryland State Fair Saturday. What goes into a 300-pound crab cake? 200 pounds of crab meat, as well as eggs, breading and seasoning. Handy Seafood's Jim Cupp designed a rotisserie-style cooker to complete the challenge. It took 8 hours for the massive crab cake to cook, and it was weighed at noon. Sandwiches from the record-setting cake were sold, benefitting the Maryland 4-H Foundation. 

Eat Maryland crab meat and win a prize. Throughout September, diners who eat at restaurants participating in Maryland's True Blue program can win a pair of tickets to the Mermaid's Kiss Oyster Fest, an after-hours celebration of Maryland seafood on Oct. 3 at the National Aquarium in Baltimore . Launched this spring by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the True Blue program allows restaurants serving DNR-verified Maryland blue...

Is that Maryland crab meat in your crab cake, or is it from parts unknown? Some diners can tell the difference between Maryland and imported crab meat with one bite. Some folks don't care much, but diners who do now have a way of finding restaurants that promise to serve exclusively Maryland crab meat. Launched this spring by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the True Blue program allows restaurants serving DNR-verified Maryland blue crab products to use a special logo in marketing or advertising the product to diners.

Bacon-wrapped oysters with Old Bay butter, “Peachy Keen” crab cakes and Old Bay chocolate ice cream are just a few of the items that earned Alonso's Restaurant bragging rights and an award of 70 pounds of Old Bay Seasoning.  Alonso's recipes were competing against other restaurants in the recently concluded Old Bay “Taste of Baytriotism” restaurant promotion. Larry Perl of the Messenger was at the scene when the 70 pounds of Old Bay arrived at Alonso's kitchen door.

Crab soup is like mother's milk to Marylanders, who are likely to begin any seafood feast with a cup of steaming tomatoes and vegetables that are host to chunks of gleaming crab meat. Cream of crab soup, with its thick base of cream and its hint of sherry, certainly has its devotees. But there is something common, and comforting, about the spicy vegetable soup, especially at harvest time. Overripe tomatoes, the last of the Maryland sweet corn, fresh beans and limas and our old friend Old Bay make this soup a winner - literally - at seafood festivals and cooking contests.

TO GRILL or not to grill a crab cake, that was the question. Would the flavor of crab meat improve if it were cooked over a hot open fire? Would crab cakes hold together on a grill? When it came time to turn them, would they suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous backyard barbecue fortune? By flipping would I end them? I pressed ahead, lured by a strong fire, a hinged metal cooking basket and a belief that everything tastes better grilled. Having been hit by the sea of troubles that engulf you when you grill crab cakes, I would now say almost everything tastes better grilled.

More than 50 restaurants have signed onto the Maryland's 'True Blue' certification program and marketing campaign. Launched this spring by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the 'True Blue' certification program allows restaurants serving DNR-verified Maryland blue crab products to use a special logo in marketing or advertising the product. 'True Blue' wasn't so much designed to convert restaurant owners and diners to Maryland crab meat as it was to help diners who want Maryland crab meat find restaurants that serve it. “We're not saying that imported crab meat can't be delicious,” said DNR Fisheries Marketing Director Steve Vilnit when the program was announced.

Independence Day means steamed crabs for many Marylanders, but the outlook for celebrating the nation's birthday with a heaping tableful of locally caught crustaceans is as iffy as the weather of late. Despite a bumper crop of crabs tallied in the Chesapeake Bay during last winter's survey, that bounty has yet to show up at local docks or seafood outlets, watermen and dealers report. The big crab houses and restaurants always stock their coolers with crabs shipped up from Louisiana or Texas, and some seafood businesses have augmented the local catch with crabs trucked in from down the bay or North Carolina.