Last year while travelling in the USA I spent some time in the Eastern Shore of Virginia. For anyone who thinks that there’s nothing left in this vast country but highways, fast food, and concrete this part of the world demonstrated that there still is an untouched, traditional, genuine America. I got a local recommendation as to where to get blue crabs, and after miles of dirt track I came upon this Crab Shack. The photo speaks for itself…note the “walk at own risk” sign…it was just amazing – troughs full of running sea water with crabs by the dozen which are pulled out of the water then hovered over for a few days til they shed their shell. The soft shell is a real delicacy here and worth much more than the hard version. This old sun-wizened man was packing bushels of crabs in a tin can shed up on stilts with barely a floor in it. Gingerly walking around picking up the ones I wanted, I stalled a bit, amazed by the scene. So anyway it was a fun experience…and the drive back to the others at home was an experience too. The crabs kept trying to escape out of the flimsy cardboard box they were in. Now for old seasoned Virginians this is a minor setback, but for me angry crab claws waving at me was far from minor especially as I had two dozen of them in the box. It was the longest 10 mile drive I’d had in a while. The children were a lot less scared of these beasties than me and were not pleased that the pot was calling. So anyhow, before I forget about the cooking part…the crabs were absolutely delicious just steamed with chilli, Old Bay Seasoning, and salt.