Crab

Starred review from November 1, 2016
Blue, Dungeness, king, snow, stone. These five varieties of U.S. crab, especially Dungeness (the type abundant in Nims' home state), feature well in 50 recipes for meals ranging from breakfast through dinner. Pick any one to encounter dishes easy to prepare and the culinary technique to ensure best use of this delicate ingredient. Nims provides two prep chapters, one on the history and sustainability of these arthropods, the other on buying, cleaning, steaming, and boiling. She surprises with some new takes on old favorites, such as lemongrass broth with crab wontons and a whisky crab soup while not overlooking such traditional favorites as Crab Louie salad and two kinds of crab cake (West and East Coast). In fact, she upholds the standard of excellence in the latter, saying that other ingredients (besides the crab) should simply help hold the cakes together and offer the slightest hint of color or flavor contrast. Though color photographs aren't available for all recipes, enough illustrations help readers follow and imagine the final product.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)