How to Host a Backyard Crab Feast

When temperatures reach a boiling point, the air is molasses-thick, and you can’t stomach the thought of standing next to a stove, there is only one solution: an outdoor crab feast. This Mid-Atlantic tradition is where pretense goes to die — it’s best enjoyed in the backyard, perhaps barefoot in a bathing suit, surrounded by family and friends. Steamed blue crabs are dumped by the bushel onto tablecloths made of newsprint and butcher paper, and quickly pilfered by hands encrusted in seafood seasoning. Side dishes lean summery simple, and the drink menu consists of canned beer still dripping wet from the cooler. Generations sit around the picnic table, each passing along advice on their preferred way to pick a crab, and conversation never gets heavier than the current score of the ballgame.

As much as this summertime rite of passage has stayed the same, the crab feast is also evolving. Watermen are rethinking how they harvest in an effort to better preserve local crab populations. Chefs are getting more creative, looking beyond the simple sliced tomatoes and corn on the cob and instead bringing Shirazi salad with Persian cucumbers and pomegranate seeds, or spicy sambal-marinated shrimp salad to the party. Inventive cocktails — like the regional Orange Crush and Spaghett — have entered the bar cart. Plus, with rising seafood prices, home cooks are finding new ways to use Old Bay and even making a case for tinned crab. But as the tides turn, the spirit of the humble crab feast remains unchanged. Blue crabs are hard-working food, a reflection of the place they come from, and there is no greater way to learn this lesson than by hunching over the dock to pull up dinner, and sidling up to the picnic table to enjoy it, soup to nuts. Every pound of the mallet, stinging cut on the hands, and treasure hunt inside a tiny claw makes the meat inside taste all the sweeter.

— Nat Belkov and Jess Mayhugh

Crab house owners and chefs share expert tips on sourcing, seasoning, and serving a proper crab feast

Crackers, mallets, boilers, and a stash of Natty Boh

Who needs shrimp salad when you can have Ekiben’s Old Bay shrimp bao buns with mango-papaya slaw?

Lorenza Aznar’s dip is a cheesy, Old Bay-spiked deconstruction of the iconic crab pretzel

Nothing beats the versatility of Maryland’s most beloved seasoning

The medley or cucumbers, tomatoes, shallots, and herbs is impossible to beat

Eat them with chicken-fried steak, shrimp po’ boys, or alongside a heap of crabs

Jinji Fraser looked to Smith Island when creating this simple recipe for chocolate fudge

When you can’t get your hands on the fresh stuff, it’s the next best thing

It may have started on Maryland’s shores, but it’s become a phenomenon throughout the state and beyond.

Meet the N/A/ Spaghett.

When your hands are covered in Old Bay and crab fat, your options are limited

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Credits

Editorial lead: Rebecca Marx
Creative director: Nat Belkov
Project manager: Erin DeJesus
Managing editor: Jess Mayhugh
Associate editor: Kat Thompson
Designer: Lille Allen
Copy editors: Nadia Q. Ahmad, Amanda Luansing
Engagement editors: Kaitlin Bray, Frances Dumlao, E Jamar
Photographer: Justin Tsucalas
Prop & food Stylist: Giulietta Pinna
Styling assistant: Jannah Muhammad
Content creator: Simone Phillips
Crab supplier: Conrad’s Crabs & Seafood Market
Special thanks: The Belkov family, Patty Diez, Tim Ebner, the Firey family, Andy Gaynor, Allison Hamlin, Megan Isennock and family, Ellie Krupnick, Katie Loya, Tori Maisey, Patrick Nolan, Tyrone Spicer Jr., Emily Venezky, Stephanie Wu