Sunday, October 4, 2009

Crabby Quest


"With wine in one hand and crab claws in another" is the ideal way to celebrate autumn, according to some highly respected poets who died long time ago. Not that I'm a wine enthusiast - I can barely finish one glass throughout the course of an evening, but who am I to argue with them? That was why I happily responded, "That's a great idea!" when someone suggested we had a crab dinner on Mid Autumn Festival, which fell on October 3rd this year.

I got up and got ready by nine o'clock - on a Saturday, I might add - and went on my hunt for live crab. I don't do the frozen crab thing - those are for amateurs. My experience told me they are the freshest if you get them on the day of the event. And they are the best if you get them from the Asian markets. Well, you really don't have a choice on the market because general supermarkets don't sell live crab. I knew exactly which market to go.

I parked the car and walked into the market, aiming straight at the seafood section. What did I see? An empty tank! There was one small part of a crab left: a crab claw on the bottom of the tank, and that was it.

Shit! I said to myself after the shock subsided. I finally flagged down a clerk in the fish section and asked if they would get more shipment in today.

"No." was the answer. No customer service training was provided to workers of this market, obviously.

"Do you know when you'll get more in?" I knew it was a long shot, but maybe there was a slim chance that they were expecting a shipment in a few minutes.

"I don't know." was the concise answer.

How could this be? The tank was always full of crab piling on top of each other. Always. What happened? Maybe I'd have better luck at the next market. I drove to the second market, half deflated.

I could see it half way down to the seafood section at the second one - an empty tank. Not even a broken claw this time. And when would they get more in? You got it - don't know.

I looked at the frozen crab in the big freezer and thought about it for a moment. The thought of being an amateur was unbearable. Nah, I'll try a third market before giving in to the second choice.

The third one was a little far out, but was worth the drive if they had the illusive commodity. Please, please let them have the crab, I said to myself while walking toward the back of the market, where the eight-legged critters would be.

I came home with a bag of manila clam for the clam chowder I was about to experiment, and three packs of frozen king crab. I was counting on the wine to befog my guests’ taste buds before dinner. Maybe they wouldn't notice the difference after the wine and the chowder.

Clearly I wasn't the only one who heeded to the gastronimic portrayal of the season. I also learned that the frozen king crab couldn't hold a candle to the live Dungeness crab - no matter how lavishly I poured the wine. Note for next year: get the crab the day before the dinner.

16 comments:

  1. There's certainly no substitute for fresh ingredients. But still, seafood and wine. Mmmmm....

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  2. Personally, I would skip the crab altogether and head straight for the wine. Wine is ALWAYS fresh! :-) Nice story.

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  3. Sarah,
    you got my kinda luck, but for crab I got a buddy that brings in them littl critters, hope they don't haveno beer shortage.
    HIGS
    Bess says hi.

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  4. hunter - i agree. i guess better luck next year.

    charlene - lol! you got a point there.

    bob - i could use some of your buddies. :)

    happy sunday, all!

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  5. Holy f*ck just how big is that crab? Just imagine the size of the bread roll that you'll need to put it in...

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  6. indigo - thanks for stopping by. they can get quite big, actually. i saw some as long as your arm span! :)

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  7. Nice new background change! And great post. Those crabs sound delicious!

    Hope you can check out my latest post. It's about Gandhi!

    http://dannysignifyingnothing.blogspot.com/2009/10/image-of-week-6.html

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  8. danny - thanks! great story about gandhi too.

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  9. Being from "Cajun Country" - I could really go for some crab right about now - that picture looks quite tasty! Found you on message board for Friend Connect followers - I look forward to following you!

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  10. Sounds yummy! Fresh seafood...always good. Here's to you and me getting our weight right where we want it!!!
    Sandra
    Mathy,Techy,Artsy Fartsy

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  11. all me - thanks for following. very happy you found me. if i can get this follower gadget to show up i'll for sure to pop over to your site!

    sandra - good luck to both of us!

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  12. I loved the comment about customer service. I think we've all been there before.

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  13. thanks mike! i hope i didnt antagonize anybody there. :)

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  14. YUMYUMYUM...

    I just had dinner, but I may go look for some more eats.

    Thanks for your visit to Coach Your Mind.

    Dayne

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  15. I think you tried your best and, even loving food, good food I mean, I think that COMPANY & PRESENTATION do the job. So whatever crab it was, your friends must have been delighted of being with you.

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  16. dayne - go for it! i understand a man's appetite fully. :)

    lorenza - thanks for the kind words. hope things are great in italy.

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