每年的夏天，有成千上万的旅游者到华盛顿去旅游,参观白宫和其他国家纪念堂和博物馆。但并不是每一个游客都知道在华盛顿附近的一个叫Chesapeake Bay的海湾，那里出产的蓝螃蟹和这些旅游胜地一样有名，特别是在那些喜欢海鲜的人眼中。
当蓝螃蟹的季节来临的时候，成百的螃蟹屋在大西洋中段的美国东岸开业，一直从北边的New Jersey到南边的South Carolina。其中最有名、最受欢迎的是那些提供热腾腾的蒸马里兰州硬壳蓝螃蟹的餐厅。
我和我的朋友从华盛顿开车到了Annapolis，经过了美国有名的海军军官学校，我们到达了非常有名的一家专门吃螃蟹和排骨的餐厅——Buddy’s 。
这家生意非常兴隆的餐厅一边靠在码头边上，一边靠在大街上。大街上的人熙熙攘攘，非常热闹。这里主要提供蓝螃蟹的自助餐，随你吃。这家餐厅的天花的管道油漆成亮丽的红色，墙是黄色、绿色和蓝色的，营造出游乐园的气氛。Buddy’s的特色是螃蟹和小排骨。我们一进门就闻到空气中有一股蒸螃蟹的鲜味，而且听得见木锤子捶开螃蟹壳碰到桌子的声音。看来我们是来对地方了。放眼一看，所有的桌上都铺着旧的报纸、一盘一盘橘红色煮熟的螃蟹、一大堆吃剩的壳、大瓶的冰啤酒和洒在螃蟹上的调味品，还有醋。我们一下子就觉得饿了。
我们一坐下来，服务员就给了我们每人一个大的围兜、湿的手巾和一个木锤子。我们要了一大瓶冰啤酒。五分钟以后，一大筐热腾腾的带壳的蓝螃蟹端上了桌。我们马上开始了新鲜的螃蟹宴。我们用小木锤把螃蟹壳捶开，然后把里面又甜又嫩的肉挑出来吃。虽然螃蟹在蒸之前就已经加过调味品了，但还是有很多人喜欢把螃蟹肉浸在融化的黄油里或其他的作料中，也有很多人喜欢蘸醋吃。蓝螃蟹的肉确实很特别，会给人留下长久的记忆。螃蟹的调味品略带辣味，冰啤酒是吃螃蟹的最佳佐餐饮料。由于是自助餐，所以服务员不断地把刚刚蒸好的螃蟹拿上来，偶尔也会拿一桶新蒸的带着壳的虾。我们自然乐得边吃边喝，直到再也吃不下为止。
除了蒸新鲜的蓝螃蟹以外，马里兰州还有一种有名的用螃蟹做的饼。马里兰州的螃蟹饼已经闻名全国。你可以在互联网上定购，第二天就会空运到你的家里。由于我们的太太没能和我们共进午餐，我和朋友决定晚上陪太太去吃螃蟹饼。晚上，我们一起到了马里兰州的一个小餐厅，它离我以前的办公室很近，那里专门做蟹肉饼。你可以选择各种不同大小和不同烹饪方法的螃蟹饼，比如烤的、炸的、煎的，而且有不同的调料。我太太点了煎蟹肉饼和Dijon sauce，这个Dijon sauce是用芥末、白酒、大蒜和小洋葱做出来的，伴着蟹肉饼吃，会有一种非常美妙的味道。朋友的太太点了一份比目鱼镶螃蟹肉饼，这是非常有趣的鱼和螃蟹两种海鲜的结合。我的朋友点了一份海陆结合的牛排和蟹肉饼。我点了一份餐厅特制的烤蟹肉饼和秘制的调料。我们每个人把自己所点的蟹饼一扫而光。
吃了一天的蓝螃蟹后，我仍然意犹未尽，坚持带了一打冷冻的蟹肉饼回家享用。
There are thousands tourists visiting the White House, national monuments and museums in Washington D.C. every summer. But, not all of them know that the blue crab season in the near-by Chesapeake Bay is as popular as these attractions amongst seafood lovers.
When blue crab is in season, hundreds of “crab houses” open for business along the central Atlantic coast, from New Jersey to South Carolina. The most popular and famous ones are those restaurants that serves hot steamed Maryland-style hard shell crabs.
My friend and I drove from D.C. to Annapolis, passing the U.S. Naval Academy, we arrived this ever famous Buddy’s Crabs and Ribs in downtown. This sprawling restaurant overlooking the waterfront and Main Street bustles with non-stop action with a busy all-you-can-eat buffet. Air ducts are painted bright red; the walls, yellow, green and blue, giving the place a carnival-like feel. Buddy’s specializes in crabs and baby-back ribs. As soon as we walk through the door, the smell of steamed crabs is in the air and the sound of wooden mallets banging against crab and table as hungry diners crack into the succulent claws told us that we are in the right place. As we looked around and saw paper-covered tables with trays of cooked bright orange crabs, mounds of discarded shells, pitchers of ice cold beer, shakers of Old Bay seafood seasoning, and bottles of apple cider vinegar, we were hungry.
We sat down and waiter gave us each a large bib, wet naps and wooden mallets. We ordered a large pitcher of draft beer which was served immediately. About five minutes later, a huge bucket of steamy hot blue crabs was bought to our table. We immediately begin our feast of the freshly caught and steamed blue crabs. Everyone uses the mallet to crake open the crabs, picking out the sweet and tender meat. Although crabs were heavily seasoned and spiced, someone still likes to dip the meat in melt butter and other likes vinegar. Taste of the crab meat is truly unique and will leave long memory. Ice cool beer is indeed the most idea beverage to go with the crab. As waiter kept bringing freshly cooked crabs and occasionally a basket of shell-on spiced shrimp, we kept eating and drinking until…..
In addition to the steamed fresh blue crab, the Maryland style crab cake is nationally well-know. Crab Cake is made of lump of blue crab meat with bread crumbs and seasoning. As a matter of fact, it is so popular that you could order next-day delivery of frozen crab cakes on line. Since our wives were not with us for the lunch, we decided to take them out again for a crab cake dinner. We went to a small restaurant near my formal office in Maryland. This restaurant is specialized in crab cake dishes. You can order different sizes of crab cakes cooked in different ways with different toppings and sauces.
My wife ordered ‘sautéed crab cake with Dijon sauce’. The Dijon sauce was made of mustard, white wine, garlic and shallot, and it produced a wonderful flavor when taken with crab cake. My friend’s wife had ‘broiled flounder stuffed with crab cake’, which was a perfect balance and combinations of fish and crab. My friend, on the other hand, ordered a combination of sea and land-steak and crab cake. I ordered a house special of baked crab cake with imperial sauce, which is a special house bland secret sauce. We have each finished every ounce of crab cake we ordered.
After having both lunch and dinner with blue crab, I still have not had enough of it. We ordered another dozen of frozen crab cake to bring back with us.
王大东
餐饮前辈，担任肯德基亚太地区副总裁时，将肯德基引入中国。一生从事大众餐饮连锁，兴趣却在追求卓越的美食品位。事业涉及全世界，由此也吃遍了全世界。
