Post #161133 by johntiki on Tue, May 24, 2005 6:09 AM

Come on people we've got to have more remembrances than these!

Who can forget the smell of your favorite local delicacies... for me it's the smell of steamed crabs. For those unfamiliar the steamed blue crab is Maryland's quintessential summer time institution. The crabs are steamed in Old Bay, a spicy powder whose aroma is enough to make a Marylander's mouth water, and when you go to a crab feast bushels of the spicy and salty crustaceans are dumped out onto picnic tables covered in day old newspaper and the picking and hammering begin. Now the goal with eating crabs is not to fill-up on them but to enjoy getting messy and spending hours chatting with friends and family while enjoying the summer weather and some ice-cold beers as well. When you were a kid you usually would spend the most time eating the claws... your parents would arm you with a wooden mallet, a Coca Cola and a roll of paper towels and you'd pound away on them. You usually ended up beating the claw flat and smashing pieces of the shell into the meat but it was always great fun. After you were done you'd wash you hands and face but for the next day or so afterwards you'd always find yourself smelling your hands... the delightful smell of the Old Bay was so strong that it tended to stay with you no matter how many times you washed. Now because of problems of over fishing in the Chesapeake Bay the crabbing industry is an absolute mess and most crabs you get are most likely imported from Louisiana but Marylanders never seem to tire of the summer ritual of eating crabs and will spent a ton of money to keep doing so. When the weather breaks and you're driving around with the windows open you always drive past a seafood place that sells steamed crabs and the smell hits you... your immediate vocal response is "I could go for some steamies!" But in the back of your mind you brain is shouting, "it's summertime!"