I remember walking along the sidewalk as a child and reciting the jump rope precaution, "Don't step on a crack, you'll break your back."
Another predictor of bad luck was a cracked mirror - a full seven years of doom ahead.But on the other hand, nothing but good fortune arises from cracking a crab.
'Tis the plentiful season for Pacific Northwest crab, and the folks at Market Street Grill and Broiler are bringing it our way, weather permitting.
According to Jeff Matsen, chef at Market Street Grill, ample supplies of Alaskan king crab, snow crab and Dungeness crab are being harvested.
Freshly harvested crab, due to its perishability, is generally cooked and frozen on the fishing vessel. Very few fresh crabs reach the marketplace in nearby coastal cities, because of the one-day shelf life of the fresh meat.
Catching crabs is regulated by state agencies. Monitoring fishing areas assures an even harvest and prevents depleted supplies.
State agencies also provide limited inspection of the shellfish crop. Safety of the catch is a nationwide concern, fraught with controversy. A number of bills have been or will be presented to Congress, suggesting the establishment of a federal fisheries inspection program. The Department of Agriculture, funded by legislative direction, is currently enmeshed in inspection feasibility studies.
To facilitate shellfish safety for the consumer, crab, in its various forms, is shipped to Utah by air freight.
Whole crabs or crab legs are readily available at local seafood restaurants and in grocery store deli cases.
Crab menu choices at the Market Street locations include platters of steamed crab, both whole and leg portions. Preparation is limited to a brief steaming to warm the precooked shellfish.
Then, the cracking adventure begins.
Using a sharp knife, slit the white underside of the crab leg, then crack with a wooden mallet or a nut-type metal cracker. A small fork or nut pick allows each flavorful morsel to be rescued.
The picking process is somewhat tedious, nearly requires a bath upon completion and demands ample time. The effort expended, however, is worth every bite of the succulent meat.
Restaurant preparation can be replicated at home with one possible exception. The whole crab may need to be cleaned, though some grocery stores offer this service to customers.
To clean a hard-shell crab like the Dungeness, lift the helmet, scrape away the gray, spongy gills and the intestines. (See the accompanying illustration.) Replace the crab shell and steam.
Matsen recommends that consumers buy crab meat with brightly colored shells, in large pieces and with a sweet smell. Even a hint of an ammonia odor signals a crab past its prime. Small, broken leg pieces may indicate the crab has been sitting for some time and may not be fresh. In selecting a whole crab, pick the heaviest one; weight is an indicator of the amount of meat inside the shell.
Canned crab meat is often the Atlantic-grown blue crab. Lump or backfin crab meat are the larger pieces and bring a premium price but contain no waste. Flake meat denotes smaller pieces from the body, while claw meat is browner and less expensive.
Soft-shell blue crabs are sold live by the dozen or frozen by the pound. This delicacy is available for a limited season and occurs after the crab molts in the spring.
All snow crab is cooked immediately after harvest and is sold on the market cooked. Generally, it appears as a cluster, which includes three legs and one claw attached to a shoulder. Cocktail claws and snow crab meat are also available.
Dungeness crabs are available in West Coast port cities. They are marketed mostly as fresh cooked or frozen cooked. You can also find clusters, legs, claws and frozen meat. All of these parts have been cooked.
King crab also is cooked immediately after harvest. It is sold as clusters, legs, claws or as picked king crab meat.
Stone crab claws are cooked upon harvest and the shell is cracked at the knuckle. Stone crab claws are primarily a Florida treat, but they are shipped frozen throughout the country.
When calculating the amount of crab per person, plan three-fourths to one pound for claws, clusters or legs. If a whole Dungeness is served, it is usually one serving. Crab meat, however, requires only one-quarter pound as a portion size.
Cost of crab is high, but combining the meat with other ingredients results in a lower cost per serving. For example, a pound of crab meat used in a pasta sauce would easily serve six to eight people.
People in the inland Salt Lake Valley have, over the past few years, become discriminating consumers of fish and shellfish. Because of the increased availability of a fresher catch, nutritional guidelines and competitive prices, seafood in Utah competes favorably with coastal supplies. Lonnie Foster, manager at the Market Street Broiler, explained, "We used to get a lot of inferior fish, but now our fish is as fresh as it is on the Coast. Because we buy in such volume, our prices are also competitive with the coastal areas."
Indulge in a winter adventure - crack a crab or two for dinner.
How to eat a crab
1. Set out the tools: a small sharp knife, wooden mallets, rolls of brown paper to cover the tables and a strong-ply napkin.
2. Twist off the two large claws and set aside. Then pull off the six small legs, or fingers, as they are called. Set these in another pile.
3. Turn the crab on its back and pry off the apron, or flap, from the bottom of the crab and discard it.
4. Turn the crab back over and pull off the entire back shell. Scrape off the gray lungs and discard them. Using your knife, trim off the knuckles along both sides of the crab body. This will start to expose the crab meat.
5. Break the crab body into two pieces. Then, with the knife, cut each half into two pieces, lengthwise, exposing the white crab meat. Pick the meat out with your fingers and knife.
6. Once the body has been picked clean, crack the claws with the mallet and pick out the meat. Then suck on the legs, chewing out the sweet meat.
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Recipes listed:
Dungeness Crab with Cioppino Sauce
Hot Confetti Snow Crab Dip
Sauce for Steamed King Crab
Crab Cakes
Corn and Crab Chowder
Crabmeat Oriental