It’s a tradition. Once/year for my wife’s birthday I make her crabcakes. The recipe is somewhat flexible but it always hinges on quality crab.
A special request to the local fish monger…resulted in a one pound $43 container of fresh “super lump” from Colombia. The Maryland version = $55/lb and the monger refused to buy it.
3 years ago it was closer to $25/lb…and available.
The Maryland crab industry has had 2 rough years. 2020 = not enough laborers. 2021 = mature crab population shortage. Nobody knows why. I never expected crabcakes to become such a luxury food item. It is now.
I’ve been resisting very fresh North Carolina (regular) lump crab meat at $40/lb because it was $32/lb this time last year. I feel your pain. The same folks who have been buying up graphics cards must like crab cakes.
I have a hard time making cakes from super-jumbo-etc crabmeat, the pieces of meat are too large to stick together.
If someone would invent a robot that picked crabs without leaving shell I would be a happy person . At least when I am making crab cakes.
I would’ve gladly purchased NC crab if available. The fish monger sold it as “Super Lump” but it was essentially “Little Lumps”. No problem making cakes.
The Colombians did an excellent job of removing the shell pieces.
The meat was somewhat bland (always a matter of degree with fresh crab). Maryland crab tends to be more flavorful…IMHO.
I live in Maryland not far from the Bay. I was talking to our local fish monger earlier in the summer about this and she said that she hasn’t seen anything like this in here career which is basically her whole life since it’s a family business. She was expecting things to drop later in the summer on the belief (hope) of a late crop. Sounds like that wasn’t the case. I haven’t checked prices locally and was thinking of making crab cakes this weekend but you saved me a trip.
I’m at that stage where life’s too short to let a few dollars stop me from going for it, especially for special occasions. Too often, settling results in still spending a lot of money on a disappointing experience. For my money, there is no substitute for MD backfin in a crabcake, especially coming from overseas. I’ll eat something else first.
Yes, similar story from my monger. They’re hoping it’s a “one off” year.
“Blue crab numbers have plunged: The number of juvenile crabs dropped this year to their lowest level in the 32 years of surveys, down 54% from last year. The adult male crab population declined to nearly half of the long-term average. The total number of crabs fell 30% to the fourth-lowest level ever recorded and only one-third the population 30 years ago.”
Money was really tight for the first few years for HRH and me. Some days we would dig change from couch cushions and the car floor, then buy expired chicken necks and head to the marsh. We never had trouble catching a dozen or more.
We don’t go frequently these days, but i do have a buddy with a dock and a crab pot.
For me the secret to crabcakes is a mixture of lump and claw, with as little binder as possible.
Plenty of local crabmeat where I live and yes prices have risen significantly over the past couple of years. It seems as though every menu in town states that they serve “jumbo” lump, but what you most often get is “lump”. I use claw for soups and gumbo, lump for crab cakes, and jumbo lump for cold salads such as Ravigote and West Indies. No doubt that claw has the most flavor so I can see combining it with lump to make crab cakes.
There’s been a real shortage of crab here too. The place we go to regularly for excellent crabcakes (with minimal binder) removed them from the menu in May and just put them back on. Other places had them but with obviously more breading and at significant price increases.
We are having good crab cakes here in the northwest. Dungeness. I think east coast blue is better, but we found a local place that makes excellent cakes (very little of any filler) for a reasonable price. Just had two tonight with a lively Suzor Chardonnay.
. At least when I am making crab cakes.
