LEJ,


You open up the crab by pulling up on the "bib" underneath, take off the top shell half and turn it over to put waste matter in, scrape out the gills and mustardy-looking stuff inside and what's left is the good backfin meat (what you refer to as torso) encased in a shell you have to break open, and the legs and claws. You pull off the legs and claws and attack the good backfin meat first. A sharp knife, a wooden mallet or a metal nutcracker can be used as aids in breaking the shell and getting to the best meat. You then pick out the meat with your fingers and eat it as you go. Restaurants usually issue bibs for the crab eaters. A couple of strategically placed paper bags will hold all the shells that get thrown away.Newspapers will be spread across the top of the table. The legs and claws get cracked next and the meat (good, but in Blue Crabs, not as good as the body meat)gets picked from them. A dish of melted butter is usually set by to dip the crabmeat in. When the first one is thoroughly demolished and picked clean, you start on your next one. Beer is the traditional drink of choice with the hardshell crabs, and some beer, along with Old Bay Seasoning and whatever else, is part of what's added to the water in the big pot that they are boiled in.

It's a messy, but wonderful experience, and I'll serve as guide for any party that wants to go out and order some, as I'm not working at the moment and I'll actually get there at a decent daylight time well rested for once. The Maryland tradition is to get large amounts of people on a weekend and order crabs by the bushel and feast on large numbers of them.


....but crabcakes are perfectly wonderful, as well.