Blue crab is widely considered the official food of Maryland at least by the many people who flock to crab festivals all over the state. They have their own unique style: they steam crabs in a mixture of beer and vinegar cover them in ungodly amounts of seasoning (whether it’s Old Bay or JO No. 2) and most importantly they only use the freshest blue crabs straight from the Chesapeake Bay.
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I ate a whole Maryland Blue Crab (including the shell)!!
Blue crabs are certainly not exclusive to Maryland. They can be found all along the Atlantic coast from Argentina to Canada. However there is something special about the cold brackish waters of the Chesapeake Bay that makes the Old Line State’s crab catches unique. Blue crabs hibernate and in order to survive the frigid temperatures of the Chesapeake they store large amounts of fat throughout the year. The extra fat gives Maryland blue crabs a unique buttery flavor but that’s only part of the appeal.
When you crack open a Maryland blue crab you will of course see the typical white and dark crab meat but you will also see a creamy yellowish substance. The locals call it "mustard" and it is considered one of the most desirable qualities of the whole crab loved for its sweet taste. Many think that mustard is just crab fat but it is actually a certain organ with a very unpleasant task.
What people in the mid-Atlantic call “mustard” is also known as tomalley and is found in all types of crabs and lobsters (where it takes on a more greenish hue). Many sources claim that the mustard is simply the fat from the crab but that is not the case. It is actually an internal organ called the hepatopancreas. It serves a similar function for crustaceans as the liver and pancreas do for humans.
