Crab Burger with Røsti and Pesto / Krabbeburger med Røsti og Pesto

A lunch recipe found in “Krabbe” (Crab), an e-booklet
published by godfisk.no

In most major food stores in Norway, you can get crab shells filled with crab meat. If you can’t get hold of this, buy two pre-cooked crabs and clean them yourself.

Fish fillets with Crab Sauce / Fiskefilet Med Krabbe

A classic Swedish lunch recipe found in “Cattelins Kokebok” (Cattelin’s Cook Book) published in 1978

Cattelin was one of the best and cheapest restaurants in Stockholm. It had survived wars, disasters and changing tastes, and still managed to pack ‘em in until they were forced to shut down in 2011, so they must have done a lot of things right.

This is a nice dish for a lunch party – it is not too time-consuming to make either. The fish you use should be firm. An admonishing word along the way: Make sure the mushrooms are browned properly, not boiled.

Crab Soup from Oslo / Krabbesuppe fra Oslo

A filling shellfish soup recipe from Oslo found on  matoppskrifter.no

This soup takes some time to make, but it is very filling. Crab meat is very aromatic and adds a lot of flavor to fish soups, shellfish soups and other dishes. King crab and leek strips are used for garnish, as well as a few tomato small tomato wedges.

Crab Patties / Krabbekaker

A modernised version of the classic Norwegian
crab patties found on godfisk.no

Crabs live on the bottom of the sea, from shallow beach areas down to 300-400 meter / 1000-1300 feet depth. In Norway, it is usually found as deep down to 50 meter / 165 feet and in areas with a lot of stones. Fall is the main season for catching a crab here. Then the crab are at their best, with plenty of meat in the shells and a delicious white meat in the claws.

Crab meat has been used to make patties like this in Norway for a long time. This recipe on the other hand they have been modernized via Eastern cuisines.

Stuffed Crabs / Fylt Krabbe

A classic Norwegian shellfish recipe found in “Festmat”
(Partyfood) published by Hjemmets Kokebokklubb in 1982

Crab Cakes with Wasabi Mayonnaise / Krabbekaker med Wasabimajones

A crab kake recipe inspired by Asian cuisines
found on  godt.no

Replace the traditional fish cakes with succulent crab cakes and serve them with wasabi mayonnaise and a fresh green salad. Perfect everyday dinner – with an Asian twist!

Tip: If you want to make a little extra out of your meal, why not make homemade mayonnaise.

In Context

Wasabi (ワサビ or わさび（山葵), earlier 和佐比; Eutrema japonicum or Wasabia japonica) is a plant of the Brassicaceae family, which includes cabbages, horseradish, and mustard. It is also called Japanese horseradish, although horseradish is a different plant (which is generally used as a substitute for wasabi, due to the scarcity of the wasabi plant). Its stem is used as a condiment and has an extremely strong pungency more akin to hot mustard than the capsaicin in a chili pepper, producing vapours that stimulate the nasal passages more than the tongue. The plant grows naturally along stream beds in mountain river valleys in Japan. The two main cultivars in the marketplace are E. japonicum ‘Daruma’ and ‘Mazuma’, but there are many others. The origin of wasabi cuisine has been clarified from the oldest historical records; it takes its rise in Nara prefecture, and more recently has seen a surge in popularity from the early 1990s to mid 2000s.

Crabmeat Salad / Krabbesalat

A salad recipe found in “Old Gloucester Sea Food Recipes”
published by  Frank E Davis Fish Company in 1932

Frank E Davis Fish Company published a whole series of cookbooks like this one in the first half of the 1930s. They featured recipes for both for canned and fresh fish and shellfish. All were richly illustrated in full colour – Ted

Crab Soup / Krabbesuppe

A luxurious soup recipe found in “Sunt og Godt”
(Healthy and Nice) published by Det Beste in 1988

This luxury soup is made with a minimal of effort and it is a pleasure to serve. The mild crab flavour gets a warmer undertone from the curry and basil. You can use lobster instead of crab if you want an even more exclusive soup.

It may be more exclusive, but it will not be more tasty, as lobster boiled in the traditional manner taste less than crabs
cooked the same way

Ted

A Crab Evening for 4 Sixties Style / Krabbeaften for 4 Som På Sekstitallet

A party suggestion with menu and recipes found in
“Vi Skal Ha Gjester” (We’re Having Guests)
published by Johan Grundt Tanum Forlag in 1969

“Vi skal ha gjester” is not a cook book in the normal sense of the word, it is a book on hosting parties at home with menu suggestions and recipes.

And have times changed in the nearly fifty years since this book was written. How anyone dared to invite even their closest friend for dinner after having read in this book what it would take to make it a successfull evening I can’t imagine. What table cloth, what sort of flower arrangement and what sort of candles to use for what sort of  evening was the least of the problems you had to tackle.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, those were hard times visitors. A time full of etiquette pitfalls and embarrasing situations. With a variety of blunders that could as we would say here in Norway, leave you standing with your ass bared.

Ted

Crab and Prawn Pasty / Britisk Pasty Med Krabbe Og Reker

A traditional pasty recipe with a modern twist
found on about.com/food/

A traditional pasty recipe will invariably contain meat but a delicious alternative is a Crab and Prawn Pasty. This pasty recipe is light yet very nutritious with such a lovely filling. Buy fresh crab meat when possible, if not, tinned white crab meat is also excellent.

Cabaret / Kabaret

A classic Scandinavian recipe found at Jacobs.no

A traditional dish from Scandinavian smorgasbords. usually served with fresh white bread and remulade sauce. Cabaret was frequently on the coffee table on the weekends in my childhood home. Usually we ate it while we watching the weekend entertainment on television.

I must confess that I’ve never made it myself or even eaten it since, although I enjoyed it a lot back then – Ted 🙂

Crab Sandwiches / Krabbesmørbrød

A classik picnic recipe found on BBC GoodFood

A classic crab sandwich made a bit more substantial with a few favourite flavours.

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Hot Crabmeat-Avocado Salad / Varm Krabbe og Avocado Salat

A recipe from “The Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library”
published in 1971

An elegant, different hot salad with moist filling and crunchy topping.

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Brixham Crab Scallops / Brixham Krabbe i Kamskjell

A recipe from “Robert Carrier‘s kitchen Cook Book”
published in 1980

The picturesque fishing port of Brixham on the Devon coast brings in wonderful catches of fish, such as sole and turbot, as well as the more mundane mackerel. lt is also famous for its lobster, crab and scallops. Nowhere else, except in the West Country, would you find the following dish considered a reasonable luxury all the year round.

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Stuffed Crabs / Fylte Krabber

A recipe from “Festmat” (Party Food) published by
Hjemmets Kokebokklubb in 1992

I love shellfish, but how come the most expensive of them is, at least served au naturel, the most tasteless and boring of them all. Lobster may be regarded as the finest, but hey, give me crabs any day. Here’s a very nice way to serve crabs as a filling starter or lunch – Ted

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