SPOTLIGHT CRAB CAKES

CRUSTACEAN STATIONS

Catherine Arnold discovers that crab is to Maryland as lobster is to Maine —an everyday delicacy. But how does one make the perfect crab cake?

Baltimoreans live in an environment where youngsters learn how to pick a crab’s shell clean of the sweet meat before they can even talk. Their molding is shaped by numerous meals with crab as the main ingredient, specifically crab cakes. Practically every restaurant, pub and café has its own crab cake recipe. “With eight brothers and sisters, we learned to pick crab fast, because if you didn’t, you didn’t get as much crab,” notes the white-haired Whitey Schmidt, a native Marylander and author of The Chesapeake Bay Crabbiest Cookbook (Marian Hartnett Press, 2000).

Crab cakes are made from a variety of different species (sometimes in the same cake). Every meaty piece of the sea-dwellers (shell, claws, back-fins and legs) is used, mixed with some or none of the following: breadcrumbs, crumbled crackers, parsley, red pepper, Worcestershire sauce, mayonnaise, French’s mustard, Grey Poupon or the bright-yellow “mustard” from the crab’s body cavity. Cakes can be round or flat, lumpy or smooth, deep-fried, lightly fried or broiled, and are available in upscale elegance or traditional, down-home style.

“Everybody has a crab cake, and some are better than others,” observes Schmidt. “So that’s why I do a lot of tasting.” Indeed, a lot of tasting is in order near the Chesapeake, so consider it your duty to do so. Here are some places that will lead you to the water:

OBRYCKI’S (1727 East Pratt St. 410-732-6399) offers up cakes the size of tennis balls that are crispy brown and chock-full of lumps of crab that are lubricated just enough with mayonnaise, from $14.95 to $18.95. The restaurant, replete with wainscotted walls and dark wood paneling, is very Baltimore with an easy-going and friendly vibe. Here since 1944, the spot is also known for its whole steamed crab on white-butcher-paper-wrapped tables.

KELLY’S (2108 Eastern Ave.) is a typical friendly Baltimore neighborhood bar. And when it comes to crab, whether your cakes are broiled or fried, the end product is brown and crisp on the edges, full of round lumps, with a slight taste of mustard and tinge of mayo for $10.95. Owner Kelly Holman has been cooking her cakes this way since she was in kindergarten, learning at the elbow of her father.

BILL’S LIGHTHOUSE INN (1739-41 Light St. 410-659-1635) is your average down-to-earth, corner bar, where the $9 crab cakes are oval-shaped, brown on the outside, lumpy with meat and flecked with parsley. The scene is amenable to a chat with locals as well.

CROSS STREET MARKET (1065 South Charles St. 410-685-2020) is one of Baltimore’s several indoor “markets” with counters selling seafood, fast food, pastries and a variety of other offerings. Nick’s Inner Harbor Seafood has a counter here, where Tammy Day prepares crabby cakes specked with garlic and parsley for $10.50. Hers is a tradition passed down by her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother.

Tips from Whitey Schmidt:

The secret to adding real flavor to a crab cake is taking the time to procure the meat from every part, from the points of the shell to the swimming legs.

Get the “mustard” from the crab’s body cavity—it looks as yellow as French’s mustard and enhances the recipe.

Once you make the cake, put it in the fridge for at least an hour before cooking. Not only does this help keep it together, it improves the flavor a bit too.

Once you put a crab cake in the pan, don’t stand there and press it or toss it back and forth three or four times. Leave it alone on its side, then flip it and fry the other side. Give it a gentle touch.

Don’t be afraid to use spices. I’d rather that somebody said about my crab cakes, “That was so hot!” or “I’d like to try that flavor again!” rather than taste the same as every other crab cake they ever had.

THIS IS HOW NICK’S INNER HARBOR SEAFOOD MAKES CRAB CAKES:

2 lbs jumbo lump crabmeat 2 eggs 2 T mayonnaise 1 t Dijon mustard 1 T Worcestershire sauce ¼ cup minced fresh parsley 6 T cracker meal Vegetable oil

1. Discard any cartilage or shell from the crabmeat. Mix together the eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and parsley in a mixing bowl.

2. Add the crab, taking care not to break up the crabmeat. Add the cracker meal, then shape the mixture into 18 two-inch cakes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

3. Add enough vegetable oil to a large skillet to come to a depth of ¼-inch and heat over a medium-high heat. Fry the cakes until golden brown, turning once, for about five minutes per side.

Serves 6

This recipe was first published in Saveur magazine in September/October 1999