A recent news article in the Capital discussed the issue of Maryland seafood, crab cakes in particular. The idea was simply put: crab cakes are best when you don't mess around with them too much. Crab cakes are best when they're made with Chesapeake Bay crabs.
Ok. But then, there's this issue of not having enough crabs. Overfishing. Puppy drum eating up all the baby crabs. Too much rain, too little rain. Loss of habitat. The list goes on and on. Every time one reason is stated, someone else disproves it and offers another.
This doesn't stop our stomachs from grumbling, though. We read the article and thought long and hard about the Boatyard's play in this - essentially using crabs from North Carolina to keep us all happy. But does that keep the purists happy, too? We had to check it out.
So here's our take: this was one really good crab cake. Deserves an 8/10. The meat was good and lump-y, sweet and there wasn't that pasty aftertaste that you get when crab cakes have too much filler in them. We didn't wonder whether the crab was entirely from the Bay or if it was from North Carolina, we just enjoyed the sandwich. Kudos to Boatyard for making this work, and not having to buy crabs halfway around the world to do it.
What's your take on the crab sitch? Where do you go for the best crab cakes in town?
