To Spice or Not to Spice? That is the Question!

Freshly caught seafood carries a wide variety of tastes. Salty-sweet, buttery blue crabs, earthy and oceanic mussels, or succulent, delicate lobster tails serve boldly alone. Masking the taste means you should have found another catch. Embellishing it with a delicious sauce or dip signals a professional chef. Know your seasonings and spice and you’ll cook up a dish really nice! Ready for a day of relaxation and a meal worth talking about. Pull up these pots. Shake out these nets and you’ll find enough fresh catches for this weekend’s seafood fest. Yes, and you can brag about it!

We Say, “Spice!”

“Maryland Style Blue Crabs” means two things. Crab house crew steam the crabs with a hot water mist, and they douse them with a paprika, salt, and bay spice concoction. Even though the crabs boast a sweet meat, unique to the Chesapeake Bay’s brackish waters, a peppery pop complements the flavor. Some enthusiasts claim additions to the cooking water enhance the bay culture experience. First, vinegar keeps the meat from sticking to the shells. Nothing worse than finding a huge crab chunk that gets “mutilated” when trying to extract it. Clean chunks and easy picking keeps everyone happy! Second, a splash or two of an IPA beer will give a bit of “hoppiness“ to the mix. Try these variations and live like a true Marylander.  Then, spicing with a Maryland mix like JO Spice #2 is part of the traditional recipe. The steaming keeps the meat tender and spicing this way allows it to coat unevenly throughout the pot. An uneven spicing gives choices for the feast. Some may want extra spice, while others, little to none. As far as the Southern style, they boil the crabs which may cause “watery” or soggy crabs and the spice is even throughout. Is it a personal preference? Yes, but the Maryland Style is almost a spiritual practice for Chesapeake Bay lovers.

Taste is at the forefront. If mixing your own spice, choose the best ingredients: salt, dry mustard, red pepper flakes, grounded black pepper, paprika, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon. Depending on your preference, add more “hot” ingredients or less. Blue crabs exhibit three main meat categories. Claw has a fibrous texture and a robust crab flavor. Lump and jumbo boast a buttery taste and a succulence with a slight salty hint. These complementing spices will embellish this fresh catch. First, the salt flakes should have a larger size to stick to the crabs. Dry mustard’s tangy flavor and red bell pepper’s sharpness will give the meat an impressive urgency. Devour every morsel and guzzle a Natty Bo! Paprika’s sweetness and cloves’ slight bitterness will mix well with crab’s saline presence. Ginger and cinnamon give mystery to the spice with a woodiness and zest that ties the mix’s flavors together. Is it a rainbow of tastes? No, it’s the Maryland Style of Spicing!

What does “dry-packed” scallop mean?

All scallops naturally leave the ocean wet, but processors have a choice when bringing the scallop to your kitchen. They can either process them with preservatives or keep them al natural. The difference is huge! Wet scallops receive a soaking bath of phosphates that extends the shelf life but fills the scallop with water that weighs it down. Sadly, the consumer pays for this water, phosphate weight that cooks off in the pan. Chefs warn that the scallops may even shrink and have a tougher texture. In fact, they sometimes have a soapy, bitter flavor. Pan searing even has issues with the added water. The only suggestion is to place the scallops on a paper towel and allow the water to seep out, but this process isn’t guaranteed to work. Your best bet is the unprocessed or dry scallop. Yes, you need to act fast with a lesser shelf life, but the sweet, oceanic taste and buttery pop is worth it! Chefs even caramelize a sear to perfection with the dry since the protein in the muscle interacts with the oil in the pan, unimpeded by water, to achieve the golden-brown.

Mother Nature surely created a “jewel of the sea” with the scallop. Believe it or not, 100 eyes surround the shell as it opens and shuts, and it glides through the water. The part that we eat, that beautiful, caramelized masterpiece is the main adductor that operates the shell. Other parts keep the scallop alive, like lungs and digestive parts, but the edible muscle is the true treasure. Energy-packed protein, 14.8 grams per 3.5 oz. serving and high percentages of Vitamin B12 and selenium give scallops a dieticians seal of approval. Immune and circulatory system health never saw such a boost! To maximize the benefit, make sure you order “dry.”