Crabs:  How to Eat a Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab

• Flip the crab over

• Flip open the apron

• Flip off the top shell

• Pull out the gills and innards.

• Break the body in half, leaving the legs and claws on.

• Squish down the flipper end (backfin) and twist it to produce a  big piece of backfin meat.

• Pull off the swimming legs and claws one by one.  Suck out the little piece of meat at the end of each.  Save the claws.

• Take a paring knife and split each half of the crab through horizontally, exposing chambers of crabmeat.  Use the knife to pick out the meat.  

• Take a claw and break it apart at the joint.  Break the claw with a mallet and pick out the crabmeat.

• Keep repeating the process until you're full.

Smith Island Cake

Smith Island's traditional 10 layer cake has been named the Official Desert of Maryland.  Smith Island Cake crams 10 impossibly thin layers of cake and icing into a cake that is only about three inches tall.  Island bakers will ship cakes to folks on the mainland.  Or, you can try baking a Smith Island Cake at home.

Chesapeake Bay Seafood Recipes

Chesapeake Bay Rockfish Recipes.  A variety of ways to cook rockfish (striped bass).

Top Rated Crabcake Recipes.  At allrecipes.com

Paula Deen's Crab Cake Recipe.  From the popular Food Network cook.

Chesapeake Bay Seasoning Mix Recipe.  Homemade Chesapeake Bay seasoning.

Crab Cakes

Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes - Recipes and preparation tips

Mail Order Crabs and Crab Cakes

Fresh Chesapeake Bay crabs and crab cakes can be express shipped to you for enjoyment anywhere in the country.  Here are some companies that ship out their products.

Buy Crab Cakes Online

Angelina's of Baltimore.  Angelina's has won "Baltimore Best Crab Cake" awards for more than 20 years and more than any other place in town.

Chesapeake Bay Gourmet.  A leader in mail order crab cakes.  Featured regularly on QVC.

The Crab Place.   Crisfield, Maryland business specializing in crabcakes, plus hard crabs, soft crabs, oysters, scallops, and more.

The Great Gourmet.  Features Maryland steamed crabs, soft crabs, and crab meat delivered fresh to your door.

J.W. Faidleys.  Founded in 1886, Faidley Seafood is one of the oldest and best-known purveyors of fresh and prepared seafood in the Chesapeake region.

Old Bay Seasoning

No kitchen in the Chesapeake Bay region should be without a can of Old Bay.  Old Bay is a staple ingredient for steamed Chesapeake Bay crabs, crab cakes, and other seafood recipes.  Cooks have found other creative uses for Old Bay including on french fries, fried chicken, and bloody marys. 

McCormick's Old Bay site.

Blue Crabs: Catch 'em, Cook 'em, Eat 'em.  by Peter Meyer.  Information about the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab, including methods of catching crabs and how to cook and eat them once you've caught them.  A great little guide for anyone interested in doing some crabbing.  Click here for more information.  Buy from Amazon.com.

More information about the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab