Dungeness Crab Season Launches in Bodega Bay

The 2009-2010 Dungeness crab season in California started November 15th and runs to June. Friends and I were eager to drive to the coast for our first crab dinner of the season. Although you can get good fresh crab in your local grocery store, it's an expensive hit or miss. Even though it's advertised as fresh or freshly cooked, it may have already been traveling through trucks and warehouses for days. Luckily for us, we're only half an hour away from the Pacific coast, so my friend Susan and I made a food adventure out of it and procured the freshest crab available.

Our destination was the fresh fish vendor at Lucas Wharf 595 S Highway 1
Bodega Bay, CA 94923. Look to the right of the Lucas Wharf Restaurant & Bar for a sign that says Lucas Wharf Fish House, although the actual name of the business is The Seafood Guys. (They told me they have a new Seafood Guys' website, but I can't find it on-line yet.)

Talk about fresh! They just hauled the crab nets up the previous afternoon, right there on the dock. The Seafood Guys sell live and cooked crabs. Here's a video clip I took of a live one.

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Crabs are definitely the cutest crustacean, almost too cute to eat. And while we didn't take that live one home, we bought some crabs that were cooked that morning and waiting for us on ice.

Such a bargain, too! We bought three good-sized crabs for just $20. I don't know of a grocery store that can beat that price--another reason to buy direct from the source. Our guy Lonnie is a real sweetheart, who takes pride in his work. Rightfully so!

Lonnie told me that for Thanksgiving week, they'll be selling all the seafood needed for cioppino: sea bass, shrimp, clams, mussels, oysters, and of course, Dungeness crab. They're open 7 days a week, 10am-5pm. Crab yields are low this year, so if your heart is set on it, try to get there by early afternoon.

After our mission was accomplished, we asked him to hold our bagged crabs on ice a little bit longer so we could take a break over at the Lucas Wharf bar, where they make the best from-scratch Bloody Marys. 

They make them spicy there, so I always order mine "on the mild side." There's still plenty of heat. Afterward, we grabbed a bag of potato chips at the Island Style Deli next door and sat outside, watching the kite surfers jump the waves for awhile until we were ready to head back home.

I'm more of a food pleasure seeker than a cook, and while I'm confident enough in the kitchen, there are plenty of things I've never learned how to do. One of those things is cleaning & cracking crab. I usually ask the  fish market to do it at time of purchase. Our friend Jules was waiting for us to return with the whole crabs and agreed to show me how.

She begins her tutorial with a question, "Do you know what this is?" as she pops open a hinged part on the under body of the crab.

She laughed then said, "It's the crab's penis. They only allow them to catch male crabs." After Jules made a disclaimer for being a home cook and not a pro, she proceeded to take me on an anatomical journey to the center of a crab while she cleaned and cracked our dinner. 

Meanwhile, Susan cracked open a bottle of Edna Valley chardonnay and prepared some sourdough toast points, sheep's milk brie, port cheddar, and olives for us to nibble on. I turned on my video capture.

So what's inside that crab and how do you get to it? What's the deal with that yellow stuff inside? Why did our friend Hiren make an advance request for us to not throw it away, but save it for her instead?

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Although my first reaction upon first seeing the crab "butter" under the shell was "yuck," Hiren's arrival and enthusiasm for it made me reconsider. I like Asian food. She said 100% of all Asian people eat that part. If it's good to that many people, maybe I'll think it's good too. I tasted it.

The cold creamy goo was slightly bitter (not sweet like crab meat) and decidedly briny. There's a lingering mineral aftertaste that might put some people off, but I liked it and would eat it again. 

After all three crabs were cracked, we got right down to business. Crab. Lemons. Butter. Seafood cocktail sauce. White wine. No side dishes, no nonsense, just the crab. So good! You can bet we'll be doing this again. Next time, I want to try cleaning and cracking the crab. Yum.

Comments

[Meghan @traveleatlove]

Oh yum, that looks so delicious and amazing! Love your blog!

[Jaya]

Thanks, Megan!

[Brad]

What a fantastic tour. I really liked the videos and step by step instruction, not many bloggers get into that kind of detail unfortunately. I am so glad I found your blog thru foodbuzz and I am definately looking forward to more. Never been to Sonoma but this is just like being there. Have a great holiday.

[Jaya]

Thank you for the kind words, Brad. I've just started experimenting with video using my digi-cam and Camtasia to edit. Having Mac envy though. Eh, hopefully practice will make perfect with my current set up.

[Michael]

Hey, Jaya. I'm loving your food blog. The link to the cioppino recipe is great. Can't find it here in NYC. I've tried to convince a few chef's here to make it. But no go. I love the history of the dish to0. Truly SF. So I send you this link so you might switch it around and add it to your post.

http://www.thegutsygourmet.net/cioppino-rec.html

[michael]

Chip In, No? Very Italian, so North Beach!