And by Med, I mean Mediterranean. The HEB Central Market in my part of town holds various foodie festivals during the year. There is a Halloween fest and a Christmas fest, of course. But they also have an Oktoberfest, a Hatch Chile festival, and various other celebrations – veritable modern Bacchanalia, if you will. All that is missing are the orgies. Alas, I have grown too old and decrepit for those anyway.
The most recent festival has been a Passport to Portugal. The store shelves and displays are filled with exotic peppers, prepared dishes, Portuguese pastries, and Mediterranean seafood. Of the latter, the one that caught my eye earlier this week was Brown Crab. These are crustaceans that resemble our Dungeness variety but are noticeably browner. I looked them up on the web and found that they are common Med dinner fare. Not only on the Iberian Peninsula and Mediterranean, but also in northern Europe. I asked the fish mongers about the taste, and no one had actually tried them. Alas.
I told Susan about the crabs. She isn’t a big seafood fan, but she will eat fish and crustaceans if only to provide me company as I indulge. Today, I brought a brown crab home for dinner. I had a large Royal Trumpet mushroom that was left over from the shrimp ramen dinner the other evening, and Susan asked me to bring home some asparagus spears. Below is the final product.
Brown crab served with melted butter and Portuguese water bread. Susan asked whether the bread, like Portuguese Water Dogs, was hypo allergenic. I shrugged.
Susan cut and prepared the thin asparagus spears, and I added the rounds of sauteed Royal Trumpet mushrooms. The combination was delicious.
Who taught you how to eat the crab? I met my first whole crab when I was in Washington DC (also meeting my soon to be i laws). The crab was from the waters of Chesapeake Bay : Maryland Blue Crab. I had been raised in the Midwest and had never seen such a thing. I was about 20. I wasn’t afraid of it but I worried that I might not like it.
My father in law to be took me to the kitchen and showed me step by step how to clean and prepare the crab for dinner. That was my first experience with crab and it now is my favorite seafood (and maybe my favorite food) !
As for my exam as “crab handler”, I passed with flying colors. In subsequent years, crab was often dinner fare; and when we moved to Oregon, I was able to demonstrate my proficiency in preparing Dungeness for them.
Fond memories 🦀🦀🦀
Who taught you how to eat the crab? I met my first whole crab when I was in Washington DC (also meeting my soon to be i laws). The crab was from the waters of Chesapeake Bay : Maryland Blue Crab. I had been raised in the Midwest and had never seen such a thing. I was about 20. I wasn’t afraid of it but I worried that I might not like it.
My father in law to be took me to the kitchen and showed me step by step how to clean and prepare the crab for dinner. That was my first experience with crab and it now is my favorite seafood (and maybe my favorite food) !
As for my exam as “crab handler”, I passed with flying colors. In subsequent years, crab was often dinner fare; and when we moved to Oregon, I was able to demonstrate my proficiency in preparing Dungeness for them.
Fond memories 🦀🦀🦀