Crab Cakes

Today my friend Andres posted “the last Friday Lenten dinner meal before Good Friday. Getting better at making Crab cakes.”

I advised him to go easy on the bread crumbs, to make it all about the crab.

When I lived in Washington, D.C., I made a study of crab cakes.  Part of my job to convince people to spend obscene amounts of money on flowers for whatever occasion, was to establish & maintain relationships with catering managers & salespeople, with restaurant managers, with party planners. 

All of whom fed me, and fed me well, constantly.  So I sampled crab cakes in the best kitchens in D.C. 

But it was an article on the last page of Washington Post Magazine that forever changed my perception of the noble crab cake. 

When I made it, I knew, from the first taste, that this was the best crab cake to ever have touched my palette.  And it was, dear Andres, easy on the bread crumbs, heavy on jumbo crab meat. 

A pinch of bread crumbs, a little mayo, a little mustard, an egg, some lemon, chives or scallions, a dash of hot sauce & cayenne pepper.  Or, if one is very brave, tiny bits of fresh jalapeño. 

Form the mixture into cakes, place on a sheet, & refrigerate for at least an hour to give the patties time to firm up.  I usually broil the cakes, but they can be sautéed in a conservative amount of olive oil – after rolling them lightly in some flour & then some bread crumbs.

I like to serve the crab cakes with the slaw recommended by that original article in the Post:  yellow & red cabbage, green onions & a dressing made of yogurt & lemon juice & whatever spices tickle your palette. 

Now, this is a lot of recipe information for those of you are not particularly interested in recipes or crab cakes.  But these crab cakes are all about concentrating on the essence, on making sure that what could be extraneous in excess, would compliment but not destroy the original flavor of the essence of the recipe.  Its original intent. 

A bit like making changes & additions to a government, to add to it & improve it, & still not take away from its original intention, its essence.