Dungeness Crab

Hi all,

Is Dungeness Crab a specialty is SF. Or am I better off having it in Vancouver? I%26#39;ll be in SF in June and Vanouver in May (would this be seasonal?). Thanks

Dungeness Crab

June is a little late for fresh crabs. May is still within the season. The Dungeness is caught all along the northern Pacific coast from November through May.

Hope you get to taste a fresh one -- it%26#39;s my very, very favorite kind of crab!

Pug

Dungeness Crab

Pug is it a specialty in SF? I read somewhere that the d crab is available all year round

Here is a little article about Dungeness:

sallys-place.com/food/鈥ungeness_crab.htm

You can get it year round here, but sometimes it will be frozen. It is best fresh. As you can see, the season moves from November, locally to the summer in Alaskan waters. Perhaps Vancouver would provide that in May. Of course, you won%26#39;t find the sour dough bread that goes so well with it. I%26#39;ve never had it in Vancouver.

Why not have it in Vancouver, then try it again in SF, and give us a report? That%26#39;s some tasty research. Crab Cioppino is good as well.

www.adelphiaseafood.com/recipes/cioppino.htm

Dungeness crab____Sour Dough Bread _____a crisp white wine while relaxing looking across the Bay.

Ahhhhhhhh !

You have to have it in San Francisco.

Fresh is best but I have been to The City every month of the year and it%26#39;s always good to me.

Just for information%26#39;s sake ... Dungeness crabs were named after a town on the Strait of Juan de Fuca in my state of Washington where they were first harvested commercially. It is a spring fishery up here so I believe it would also be a spring fishery in Vancouver since we are right next to each other. They will be at their prime in May.

Giraffez, our friend Girasol has given good advice. The worthy Dungeness is popular in San Francisco but it%26#39;s available all up the coast. My favorite way to eat it is to go to a crab pot and buy the crab straight out of the pot, and have the vendor crack it. In restaurants, the meat may be prepared different ways.

Pug

Thanks all.

Wheres a good place to have this in SF? Fisherman%26#39;s wharf?

You mentioned sourdough -%26gt; I;m planning to visit boudin%26#39;s bakery.... should I have it there (assuming they also do dcrab).

Are d crab expensive?

We ate at The Franciscian which is right in Fisherman%26#39;s wharf. Terrific views and the wait staff was very friendly. I had the Dungeness crab on iron skillet with some shrimp. Sorry I had the shrimp should have had double crab instead. It was cooked butter/garlic and they give you some to dip the seafood in. It was delicious.

I know the place is touristy but, um, we%26#39;re tourists.

They had meat for my hubby and the girls ordered butter pasta. Hard to believe but my hubby said the pasta was some of the best he has ever eaten and looked like it was made fresh.

You can make reservations at www.opentable.com. We did because I knew the restaurant was in the heart of Fisherman%26#39;s wharf and I had no idea of the crowd level.

If you don%26#39;t want sit down there are plenty of places nearby on the street you can get a taste. Somehow it wouldn%26#39;t be a visit to SF without one crab.

We are still getting fresh Dungeness crab in our market at about $6.99/lb. Usual season for this is around November/December to February or so. We were paying as little as $3.99/lb during the real season.

One needs to have crab fresh (never frozen...ugh) and preferably one whole cooked and cracked crab per person (if you are at home, you can easily crack and clean it yourself once someone shows you.) Have picks to get the meat out of the body shell, plenty of napkins, some seafood cocktail sauce and lemons and a big bowl in the middle of the table for shells. Sour dough French bread an absolute necessity....(Boudins is fine.) Artichokes as a side dish work well....you can toss the leaves in the crab shell bowl. A good white California wine.

Don%26#39;t know about the season in Vancouver or whether you can find it fresh in restaurants this late. Do ask. It makes a difference.

I, personally, would never eat crab cooked in a sauce or garlic or anything. Give me the pure meat. It is too delicate to gussy up.

To really answer your question, YES Dungeness crab is definitely a specialty of San Francisco. Go to Fisherman%26#39;s Wharf and you can get a ';walk-around'; crab cocktail. (Be sure it%26#39;s fresh crab.)