picking crab

picking crab is certainly not what i thought it would be. it's not choosing a crab - it's picking the meat out of the shell. i've picked lobster a lot and thought it couldn't be all that different. but i was wrong.

first of all, the implements are different. no nutcracker for this job - the tools of the trade are beach rocks and vices and hammers! these crab shells were so much harder than even the hardest shell lobster. the meat was in the same place - in the legs, the claws, and the bodies. but crabs are so much smaller than lobsters, and the amount of meat you have to work for is minuscule in comparison to the amount you get from a lobster. and it takes so long! the shells are the same hue as the meat so it's easy to get small hard remnants mixed in with the collected meat. crunch!

before we even began the task, i watched this video of a woman from downeast maine who was skilled at picking crab. she made it look so easy and painless! but it was very difficult and no fun. the small amount of meat, as tasty as it was, was not worth the aggravation.

i think if folks from small northern maine fishing villages ever go to hell, picking crab is what they must have to do for eternity. in my humble opinion.