A good idea and exciting news
In case you missed it, Beerman Cold Beer came up with this excellent point:
OK, so the usual suspects show up year after year in the Best Crab Cake derby. I want to start a new category: Best CHEAP crabcake.To me there is no place in this world for a 29 cent hamburger but there is a place for a $6.00 crab cake. So, for best cheap crab cake I nominate John's Sub Shop on O'Donnell Square in Canton. A sleeper pick to win a medal is IKEA in Whitemarsh. Yes, you can get a crabcake at a Home Furnishings store and it is actually pretty good. Now, we are not talking heavy duty lump or backfin, but still, a good blue collar $6.00 crabcake is nothing to sneeze at.
I, too, would like to see this list. And please feel free to post your nominations below. But I'm going to save the finalized version until...and here comes the exciting announcement, boys and girls...
(Jed Kirschbaum/Sun Photographer)
...Crab Week.
Yes, following the resounding success of Sugar Week last summer, we are going to have Crab Week in '08, where we discuss crab cakes at even greater length (just shoot me now), soft crabs, crab imperial, Asian vs. gulf vs. Chesapeake Bay crab meat, crab houses and so on. So also feel free to:
1) Nominate the proper time. Obviously November really isn't it.
2) Suggest categories you want to discuss beyond those listed above.
3) Send me cute photos of pets and small children being chased by live crabs. (Just kidding.)
Comments
Obviously fried vs. broiled. And although it has been mentioned in passing, how about the best "crabcakes" without any crab (on purpose). What's out there besides Gertrude's and One World's take on the vegetarian crabcake?
Posted by: Darlene | October 29, 2007 4:44 PM
Actually, November isn't a bad time, although October might be better. Local crabs, as opposed to the Gulf imports, are at their fattest and sweetest in the Fall, before it gets so cold that they burrow in.
Excellent point. OK, one vote for November, although somehow spring getting us ready for summer feels more right.
Posted by: c mac | October 29, 2007 5:04 PM
how about Eddie's? Premade, prefried (or prebroiled, I have no idea how they prepare them), and definitely cheaper than buying one at a sit-down restaurant. Plus they are typically fist-sized and full of lump.
Posted by: aw | October 29, 2007 5:16 PM
Graul's makes a decent (and inexpensive) one. I think sometimes during the summer they offer a $5 crabcake lunch that comes with a bag of chips and bottle of water.
Posted by: Jessica | October 29, 2007 7:57 PM
Elizabeth, I hate to end all of the crab induced fun that you have been having, but I think that May would be a perfect time. That is usually when, after the winter doldrums, I think of indulging in the beautiful swimmers.
Posted by: Regina | October 29, 2007 9:19 PM
I think that the time I really start to crave crabs is aroung the end of May. Maybe the beginning of May would be a good time to get the discussions going.
Also, I'd like to know the best places for that old Baltimore favorite - the fried softcrab sandwich.
Posted by: Janet | October 30, 2007 7:52 AM
the week before Memorial day- May is a good time, the weather is just warm enough to eat crabs outside, and 1/2 the city hasn't left for OC yet.
Posted by: Mather | October 30, 2007 11:11 AM
Who am I?
Baltimore native for over 50 years, spent summer at Brandon Shores fishing and crabbing. Uncle Will steamed a canning pot full of crabs every Sunday afternoon. Aunt Ida was a domestic cook at the Hendler (Ice Cream people) taught me how to pan fry a soft crab at age 10.
1) best time to eat: August, the "dog Days" the spices of the crab seasoning, cold beer,(Boh) and hot summer early evening. Additionally, the ideal place is a screened porch near the water (Gablers Carb house in Harford County, alas gone, combined all of the essential elements of eating crabs).
2a) Steamed Crab "joints" (both eat-in and carry-out. 2b)A good cheap crab cake., and 2c) soft crab sandwich, consist of Fresh never frozen pan fried, white bread toasted, with lettucs and tomato, mayo, cole slaw on side.
3) Why would anyone want a vegan crab cake?
4) Ocaen City is for tourist and I have been consistantly been disappointed with their offering, but please prove me wrong with a great crab house, please!
Posted by: Bob Somers | June 6, 2008 12:50 PM