While I was in Charlotte, North Carolina, I was the executive chef at a private dining room and private club. Crab cakes are a staple food in that part of the world. In fact, I would buy some 50 pounds of crab meat a week. We used only fresh, jumbo lump crab meat from the Chesapeake Bay area.
The Chesapeake Bay is a fairly degraded ecosystem but somehow still yields a crop of blue crabs. We were able to get the jumbo lump size of fresh crabs year round. Fresh jumbo lump crab meat is sweet and tasty giant nuggets of blue crab. Coming from the hind leg, these are the largest chunks of meat that you can get from the blue crab. Fresh jumbo lump crab meat can be used for crab cocktail or the ultimate crab cake. Retail price can exceed $40 per pound plus shipping.
My daughter, Beverly, spent the summer with us and must have remembered the crab cakes from out time in Charlotte. She asked for a cooking lesson on how to make then tasty treats. I demonstrated a lower cost version made with back-fin meat. This is less costly but has good flavor.
Here is a cut down version of the 50 pound recipe.
Tastefully yours®,
Chef Michael Hutchings