On the reality TV show Kitchen Nightmares, renowned British chef Gordon Ramsay visited struggling restaurants as a troubleshooter and tried to turn them around. Ramsay would often order crabcakes because they are a simple dish that could be a reliable indicator of a restaurant’s food quality and cooking standards. He could tell if the restaurant sourced the best quality ingredients or went after the lowest price. He could easily discern if they were handmade or pulled from a package in the freezer and warmed in a microwave. Ramsay’s critiques were frequently harsh, labeling subpar versions as “crap cakes.”
Crabcakes have long been a popular American regional specialty, especially in Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay. According to the Baltimore Sun, the earliest versions of crabcakes were made by the area’s indigenous people as far back as the 16th century. They would combine the meat of blue crab with vegetables and cornmeal, form it into small balls and fry them in hot bear fat.
Blue crabs are native to the Atlantic coast, from Cape Cod to Argentina, and throughout the Gulf of Mexico. They are considered an invasive species in Europe and Asia, likely introduced via cargo ship ballast water. Crabmeat is expensive, not necessarily due to scarcity but to the labor-intensive process of extracting it. This creates a competitive challenge for U.S. processors because of lower labor costs in Asia. Although one of the oldest and largest processors of blue crab, Phillips Foods, is headquartered in Baltimore, it now relies on Southeast Asia for a significant portion of its crab supply.
My fondness for crabcakes invariably leads me to order them whenever I see them on a menu, but they frequently fall short of my expectations. Good crabcakes should taste like crab! Most crabcakes have more filler than crabmeat. The other ingredients in most crabcake recipes – eggs, mayonnaise and breadcrumbs – may hold everything together but they also overpower the subtle taste of the crab. Celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern declared: “Putting a lot of junk in a crabcake is one of the biggest transgressions I find in American cookery.”
My favorite crabcake recipe comes from Nashville chef Sean Brock. His approach to preserving the crab’s texture and sweetness involves an unconventional binder: sea scallops! Scallops make a great binder and keep the crabcakes from falling apart during cooking. The scallops’ gentle sweetness and delicate umami complement the crab’s natural flavor. As the scallops cook, they recede into the background, and you end up with a crabcake that tastes and feels like you’re eating lumps of luscious crabmeat, without any noticeable binder.
It’s important to take your time picking through the crabmeat and looking for shell pieces when making crabcakes. Commercial processors and restaurants accomplish this under a black light. If you shut off the lights and shine a black light on the crabmeat, any shell fragments will glow like a white T-shirt does under a black light.
Crabcakes are traditionally served with a remoulade or tartar sauce, but this time of year, I like to enjoy them with a verdant avocado sauce, based on a 2004 recipe that appeared in the now-defunct Gourmet magazine.
Sean Brock’s crabcakes
Makes four entrée-sized or eight appetizer-sized portions.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup small-diced shallots
3/4 cups small-diced celery
2 tablespoons butter
5 medium-sized scallops-10/20 count
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
Juice and zest of one lemon
1/2 pound of jumbo lump crab, divided
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chives
2 tablespoons chopped tarragon or chervil (or double up on the chives and parsley)
Salt to taste
Neutral cooking oil, such as canola, grapeseed or avocado
Preparation:
In a skillet, melt the butter and sweat the shallots and celery until softened and translucent. They don’t need to be browned or caramelized. Transfer to a plate and chill in the freezer or refrigerator.
In a food processor, add the raw scallops, the two mustards, lemon juice and half the crab and pulse until smooth. It should become a soft, thick paste.
Transfer to a mixing bowl, add the lemon zest, the remaining crab and the herbs. Then fold in the cooled onion and celery mixture, tossing very gently to prevent the crabmeat from breaking up too much.
Add the salt, sauté a test sample and taste the mixture. Add more salt as necessary.
Form the crab mixture into patties. For appetizer portions, shape them to about the diameter of a golf ball. For entrée portions, aim for the circumference of a baseball.
Place the formed cakes on a parchment-lined, rimmed baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
Warm a large skillet and coat it with cooking oil. Over medium-high heat, sauté one side for approximately four minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Flip and cook the other side for another four minutes until equally browned and crispy. Aim for an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Alternatively, the crabcakes can be baked. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the patties on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, flipping them halfway through (after seven-eight minutes) to ensure they cook evenly. Look for light browning around the edges.
Line a small baking sheet with paper towels. Transfer the crabcakes to the towels to briefly absorb any cooking oil.
To serve, ladle some sauce onto each plate. (I like to let the crab flavor be in the forefront. My favorite sauce recipe follows, but you can use your own sauce of choice.) Place the crabcakes over the sauce and drizzle a little more sauce over them. I like to top with some microgreens and a pickled pepper ring.
Avocado cream sauce
Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted, peeled
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus the zest
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and quartered
¼ cup yogurt or sour cream
Preparation:
In a food processor, combine the avocado, mayonnaise, salt, sugar, lime zest, half the lime juice and one-fourth of the jalapeno and pulse until the chili is finely chopped. Taste and add more jalapeno if you desire more heat. Taste again and add more lime juice if it needs more acidity. Add the yogurt or sour cream and pulse again to combine. Season to taste with additional salt.
This article appears in May 15-21, 2025.
