Dungeness Crab

Know this

Most seafood is available until it is not. Dungeness has an opening date, and on the West Coast it functions as an event: boats stacked with pots, docks crowded, everyone arguing about whether the test results will delay it again. The fishery runs on three rules that have kept it healthy for over a century. Males only, over a minimum size, and only in season. Every female and every undersized male goes back in the water, which is why this is one of the few fisheries nobody has to apologize for. Buy them live and heavy for their size, or cooked the same day from somewhere that will tell you when. Chef secret: the soft golden paste inside the shell is not guts to be rinsed away. That is the crab butter, it is the richest thing on the animal, and most people wash it down the drain before they ever taste it.

Cook

Steam, do not boil. Fifteen to eighteen minutes for a two pound crab over an inch of salted water, then straight into ice to stop it. Boiling waterlogs the meat.

Season

November into January, though the opening date moves some years while the toxin testing catches up.

Best pairings

butter · lemon · garlic · parsley · sourdough · mayonnaise

Also worth trying: tarragon, chili, ginger, scallion, white wine, celery, old bay, avocado, cucumber, rice.

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