Nims - Crab: 50 recipes with the fresh taste of the sea / Cynthia Nims ; photographs by Jim Henkens

When Captain George Vancouver explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca at the north edge of Washington States Olympic Peninsula in the late eighteenth century, he happened upon a stretch of land that reminded him of a point on the English Channel called Dungeness. When he gave this Washington spit the same name, Vancouver inadvertently established the namesake for what would become one of the Northwests most iconic foods. The beautiful Dungeness crab was at first known simply as edible crab or just crab. But as the fishery for this delectable, sweet crab became more significant in the early twentieth century, it took on the name Dungeness. Today the Dungeness crab is one of the foods mostly closely identified with the Pacific Coast.

This is just one of many crab that grace dinner tables and backyard summertime spreads around the country, though. Of them, I know Dungeness best and will, without apology, call it my favorite. But devotion to other crab species runs just as strong elsewhere. In this book I take my love of Dungeness as a starting point and branch out to contemplate a number of crab that contribute to some of the most delicious eating experiences available. Blue crab from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, stone crab from Florida, and king and snow crab from Alaska: theyre all iconic in their own ways.

When it comes to enjoying crab, simple is best for most seafood fanatics: freshly cooked, with melted butter and/or lemon wedges, plenty of napkins, and a crisp, cold beverage. Its hard to imagine ever tiring of that brand of delicious. From this minimalist starting point (see ), crab proves to be surprisingly versatile in the kitchen. In the shell crab can be boiled, steamed, stewed, roasted, and grilled. The rich, sweet-briny meat adds panache to recipes from breakfast, through lunch (in soups, salads, and sandwiches), into cocktail hour, and finally on the dinner table. I stop just short of making crab ice cream, but trust me, its out there.

Of the dozens of crab species found in the waters of the Pacific Coast, three contribute most to the commercial and culinary character of the region: Dungeness, king, and snow crab. The latter two are fished primarily in the deep, frigid waters of Alaska, while Dungeness are found from Alaska to California.

The San Francisco Bay area reported some of the earliest commercial activity with Dungeness crab along the Pacific Coast. Early fishing records date back as far as 1848, when Italian settlers to the region began harvesting and selling local fish. This dawning industry grew quickly as the California Gold Rush gained steam, bringing new customers to the region as well as disillusioned prospectors who turned their attention from hopes of gold to heaps of seafood. It is believed that crab were initially an incidental catchfishermen intending to catch anchovies, sole, or sardines would sometimes find crab trapped in their nets.

By the early 1860s crab were being marketed along the San Francisco waterfront and crabbing had become a more targeted fishery. Early crabbing records farther north on the Pacific Coast dont appear until near the end of the 1800s. Those early commercially harvested crab didnt make it far from the dock where they were landed, though, since there werent yet systems in place to reliably distribute the perishable shellfish.