SC - Re: Sixteenth Leeds Food History Symposium

[Elise Fleming]

Olwen the Odd wrote:
> 
> >Many people feel, evidently you excepted, that having the crabmeat come
> >in actual contact with a hot pan is detrimental to the texture. Most of
> >the crabcakes I've seen have been coated at least with seasoned flour.
> >Of course, I haven't taken a poll among Chesapeake Bay area residents.
> >What I've been exposed to, though, in the area, included ones coated
> >with breadcrumbs (bleah) cracker crumbs (better) and with seasoned flour
> >(best).
> >
> >Adamantius
> 
> Alright.  Now I KNOW we need to do some crabs stuff at Pennsic.
> Olwen

Evidently I am partially in error. A quick look at "Maryland's Way", the
cookbook published by the Maryland Historical Society branch based at
the reconstructed Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis, has perhaps five
crabcake recipes, of which two are uncoated, two are floured, and two
(including one of those floured ones) include a slice or two of white
bread, soaked in milk, which will give a crust fairly similar to a
floured crab cake. One of the unfloured ones calls for a mashed
hard-boiled egg to be included. There appears to be a huge range of
different styles.

Interestingly enough, one of the recipes demonstrates what I was trying
to tell Stefan about the difference between industrially-made and
homemade crab cakes: it says that while the recipe will freeze well, you
don't want to prepare more than two pounds per batch. I don;t know if
this is about the difficulties of mixing a large batch withiout
overprocessing, or speed required to freeze them, or what, but either
possibility seems likely.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com