the arugula files

Blog for the Bay: Where to Eat Maryland Blue Crabs

I'm re-posting "Where to Eat Maryland Blue Crabs" in honor of blogging for the bay, co-hosted by Foodietots and Arugulafiles. The population of blue crabs in the bay is threatened by overfishing and pollution. With the help of smart and disciplined fishery management, they are coming back. We must continue these efforts. Sign the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s petition urging the EPA to quit delaying action to help save our Bay.

If you have ever set crab traps, you know that live blue crabs are aggressive and will charge at you when approached.  I learned this after my first and only attempt at crabbing.  I was staying at a summer house in Virginia appointed with some crab traps and a small dock.  Fascinated by the whole catch-my-own dinner experience, I cut up a few chicken breasts, placed the bait in the trap, and waited.  The next day I found one lonely crab in the trap. He was mad as hell.  When I tried to take him out, he snapped, charging at me with the confidence of a Spanish bull.

I've heard that blue crabs hurt when they bite, sort of like a long, mean pinch from your older brother, so I got a set of kitchen tongs.  The crab saw the tongs as his opponent in the ring, so to say, snapping at them every time I reached into the trap.  With help from Marcus, I finally got him out, setting him in a pail while I decided how to prepare him.  Then it hit me, I didn't want to kill this crab.  I couldn't do it.  He was a fighter.  I know it sounds absurd, but he wanted to live too badly.  So I brought him down to the river, turned the pail over, watched him run off the end of the dock, and plop into the water like a fat kid performing the last canon ball of the summer.

Clearly, I have no career in the fishery arts.  Now if I want crabs, I rely on someone else to catch 'em and cook 'em. And for that there is no better place than Cantler's Riverside Inn, in Annapolis, on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Cantler's is a Maryland institution.  For about 35 years, crab men have docked their boats and sold their catch to the restaurant.  Cantler's steams the crabs for about 12 minutes in old kegs converted to steamers.  I wonder what a live crab thinks when they are placed in a steamer and all of a sudden it's raining Old Bay? Don't think about it.

Try to get a seat outside by the river.  Order some steamed crabs and shrimp, and a few beers.  Settle in. Forget about the rest, "like time is not a thing for you to lose." 

More Blog for the Bay:

• Arugula Files research sustainability of Maryland Blue Crabs.
  
• Captial Spice tells of a favorite market vendor, Chris' Marketplace.
  
• The Green Phone Booth's Jess Trev reminisces about roof deck parties and a soft shell sandwich to mark Bill Clinton's inauguration.
  
• Foodie Tots got married on the Bay.  Read more about what it means to her family.
  
• Capital Cooking Show's Lauren was recently introduced to blue crabs after moving here from the Midwest.
  
• Metrocurean used "pretty please with crabcakes on top" to beg favors from her father, and shares her grandmother's crabcake recipe.
• Plight of the Pumpernickel offers tips on how to eat Maryland Blue Crab.
• DCist offers their favorite summertime activity: a trip to the Maine Avenue Fish Wharf for crabs, followed by a picnic in East Potomac Park.
• Endless Simmer sees ulterior motives in our campaign. (Hey, we’re not denying our self-interest. Crabs are yummy!)
• Internet Food Association is stung by old bay and scary magic cards.
• Inspired by Etsy highlights her fave shore related crafts.

Add your blog to the list and encourage people to sign the petition.

Blog for the Bay!

Photo by flickr user zoopmon

Can you imagine DC cuisine without soft shells, crab cakes and crab pickin’? Neither can we!

Calling all District foodies!  FoodieTots and The Arugula Files will be co-hosting “Blog for the Bay” this Wednesday, April 22. Please join local food advocates on Earth Day and help rally District foodies to support clean water in the Chesapeake Bay. To participate, simply post about the Chesapeake Bay (a favorite memory, favorite place to eat crabs, best crab cake recipe, anything!) and include a link to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s petition urging the EPA to quit delaying action to help save our Bay. Please mention “Blog for the Bay” in your post and link to hosts FoodieTots.com and ArugulaFiles.com.

See the Facebook event page or contact foodietots@gmail.com for more details. Links will also be posted in round-ups on FoodieTots.com and ArugulaFiles.com, and will be updated throughout the day. Please help us spread the word and check back on Wednesday for the “Blog for the Bay” round-up!

They're Back!

photo by flickr user bob.fornal

The blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay is increasing.  Yes, you heard that right, increasing.  According to the Washington Post, the blue crab population increased by 43 percent.  Scientists attribute some of the increase to fishery management, including cutting back on catching females and banning "dredge" fishery methods.   They warned that while the news is encouraging, "blue crabs are a species prone to explosive swings in population, so there is no guarantee that the growth will continue."  In other words: don't crack open the champagne just yet.  The restrictions need to continue, and once we have an upward trend over a longer periods, we can feel better about the future of blue crabs.

Slow Cooked Arctic Char with Sorrel Butter

Last Saturday I took a sustainable seafood cooking class at CulinAerie on 14th Street in DC.  Local chef Barton Seaver (formerly of Hook and Tacklebox) was the instructor.  The class started with a discussion of which fish we should be eating and which we should leave behind to procreate in the ocean.  (You know, so we can eat their grandchildren.  I'm terrible.  No, seriously, so we can save them for our grandchildren.)  Turns out, there are lots of sustainable fish.  Can't live without salmon?  Switch to arctic char, which tastes similar, but with a milder flavor.  Here's a link to the list of sustainable seafood.  The saddest sight on this list, at least for me, is scallops.  They get mixed reviews in terms of sustainability. 

Michelle Obama Rocks the White House

Just in case we need another reason to love the first family: they are planting a garden on the White House lawn.  Guess what's included on the list of to be planted vegetables: arugula!  Oh man, I dig this family. Please, please, please adopt me.

Since I live less than ten blocks from the White House, I would like to volunteer to work in the garden. I'll even weed.  Michelle, have your people call my people, and I'll be over with my garden hose and boots.

Founding Farmers

I finally made it to Founding Farmers, the new restaurant built around sustainable concepts.  The restaurant is gorgeous, with long wooden tables and lots of windows.  

I ordered the arctic char with cracked pepper and lemon; it was tasty, but not spectacular.  It came with a side of whipped, creamy potatoes and parsnips.  Everyone knows how I feel about parsnips, so I won't get into that one.  The potatoes were good, but what's not to love about cream and butter? My friend Bridget ordered the roasted chicken with corn on the cob bathed in deliciousness, and my friend Anne ordered the thanksgiving turkey sandwich with french fries.  The corn left Bridget with a big, buttery smile, and she seemed quite happy with the chicken as well.  According to Anne, the turkey sandwich needed more seasoning, "write that one in your blog, Mary."  Overall our meals were consistently good.  I would count this as a go-to place if you are in the area after work, but not a planned destination.

Sustainable Seafood Cooking Demonstration with Barton Seaver

Photo by Flickr user Tuasssi

CulinAerie, a cooking school that recently opened on 14th street in DC, is offering a cooking demonstration on sustainable seafood.  The class, taught by Barton Seaver formerly of Hook and Tacklebox, will provide tips on buying and storing seafood, and will "encourage confidence in seafood cookery."  The class format is listed as "demonstration," which basically means you sit around, watch, and listen.

I signed up.  Sustainable seafood is an issue I grapple with a lot.  The problem is that I have a tough time reconciling my urge to eat all the scallops in the ocean, like a movie goer scarfs down popcorn, and my interest in making sure that my kids (and their kids too) get to enjoy buttery crustaceans. 

Registration information is here.  You should come too (let me know if you plan on it!).

Alice Waters an Evil Doer? No. Not Even Close.

For those of you sleeping with your eyes open, an Alice Waters smack down is in full effect and it’s taking place on the INTERNETS. Anthony Bourdain fired the first shot, slamming Alice Waters in our very own DCist.  “Alice Waters annoys the living shit out of me,” said Bourdain. You can read all about it here, here, and here. Bourdain’s main complaint is legitimate—sometimes Waters comes across sounding elitist, but the core of her mission is true and honest, something Bourdain humbly admits (while mentioning that even her actions don’t always live up to the standards she sets for others).  Bourdain ripping Alice a new head of lettuce was entertaining. 

But it wasn’t long before Washingtonian’s Todd Kliman got in the ring, giving Alice a one-two on NPR, of all places. Read the comments; the people's republic of NPR—of which I'm a proud member—is pissed.  As a side note, I can see the NPR online editor lapping up Kliman’s “unexpected voice” and then filing it away in the npr “nonpartisan/not so liberal” smoke and mirrors kit.  Kliman was ruthless, and, I might say, sloppy in his argument against Waters.  You expect Anthony Bourdain to say stupid shit about EVERYONE; it’s his modus operandi. But Todd Kliman?  He’s a respectable critic.  A James Beard winner.  Yet, he makes the argument that we should be eating food from Timbuktu, if we want.  His mission: find the most exciting food, no matter what the cost.  As one commenter put it: "Mr. Kliman's ire smacks of an entirely different sort of snobbery: food imperialism. I want it, I can afford it, therefore I should have it regardless of the consequences."