Crab Imperial

"Crab Imperial" is a seasoned crab casserole gratin. While we likely think of the seasonings as being rather strong individually, in the amounts used in this dish, they just provide a relatively mild flavor, allowing the wonderful crab meat to be the star of the show. Crab meat is expensive, but if you can afford it, give yourself a treat, although you can certainly use imitation crab meat. You want to use "lump crab meat." From what I can tell, the history of this dish is uncertain, but it would make sense that someone decided to make a crab cake dish, but with the breadcrumbs added as a topping for the crab mixture. The area around Baltimore or the entire Chesapeake Bay area would be a good candidate for where "Crab Imperial" started, as the area is noted for "blue crabs," which actually turn a reddish-orange color when steamed over a pot of boiling beer seasoned with "Old Bay," a seasoning invented in Baltimore in the late 1930s, which is easily available in supermarkets or even in some neighborhood grocery stores in the eastern and southern U.S., and I wouldn't be surprised if it's in stores in the western part of the U.S. I'm not sure of its international availability in stores, but in this day and age, you can find it online.

I put this recipe of my own as serving 3 to 4, but it may take some real will power to keep from eating it all yourself.
       
Ingredients (3 to 4 servings):

1 pound lump crab meat
1/3 cup mayonnaise (reduced fat type is fine)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons parsley 
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons finely chopped red pepper (sweet or hot)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you use hot chili pepper above, you can omit this, if you'd like)
1 egg
(optional) 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs

Heat the oven to 375 F. Mix together the mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, egg, paprika, chopped red pepper, ground red pepper, parsley and salt. Then add the lump crab meat and "fold it" into the "sauce," taking care not to break up the crab pieces. Put the mixture into a casserole. Mix the breadcrumbs and melted butter together, then sprinkle the mix over the top of the crab mixture. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned and "set." Remove the crab from the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes before serving, if it's possible to wait that long.  

In the bottom photo, I turned the breadcrumb topping over to show the interior...

WORD HISTORY:
Empire-This word is related to "imperial" and "emperor," words of Latin derivation borrowed by English from Latin-based French, and to "imperative," a word English borrowed from Latin. The "em" part goes back to Indo European "in/en," which meant, "in."  The "pire" part goes back to Indo European "per(e)," which had the notion, "to produce, to bring forth, to get, to obtain.'' These parts gave Latin "imperare," which meant, "to command." This produced the Latin noun "imperium," meaning, "a command, an authority, a realm, lands under control of an authority." This passed into Old French as "empire," with the same meanings. This was borrowed by English in the 1300s. The original English word for "empire" was "rice" (not pronounced like the food, but rather like, "rike-eh," and it is a close relative of "Reich" in German, which once was spelled "riche," and pronounced very similarly to its English cousin.     

Crab Cakes

Patties made from chopped or ground meat, fish or seafood have seemingly been around since ancient times. Crab was used for such patties in the North American colonies of England, naturally more so along the Atlantic coastal regions. The Baltimore, Maryland area came to be known for these wonderful patties, where the term "crab cakes" apparently became popular in the 1900s. Way back in the early 1960s, we went to Baltimore and Washington, D.C. and visited a very close friend of my father. My dad had lived in Baltimore for five years in the 1930s. The first day, he took me to an area along Chesapeake Bay in the city, where there were fish and seafood stands, many complete with large kettles and barrels cooking crabs of various sizes. He picked out a large cooked crab, about the size of a soccer ball, if I remember right. Back in those times, he said the area had changed little from the days when he lived there, so he could easily find his way around. So we took the crab back to where we were staying with my dad's friend and his wife, who lived in a trailer. He showed me how to break open the crab and pick out the meat. Years later, I still had one of the claw shells from that crab we had eaten that day.

Crab can be quite dear, so if it strains your budget, you can use imitation crab, but try your best to give yourself a special treat and buy lump crab meat. This is my own recipe and the cakes are really "crab" cakes, not breadcrumbs with a bit of crab meat. 

Ingredients:

1 pound lump crab meat
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup green onion with some of the green, chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 teaspoons parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)

Saute red bell pepper and onion in butter until softened, then cool the mixture somewhat. Mix all other ingredients in a bowl, then add the sauteed pepper and onion, combine. Gently mix the crab meat in, trying to keep the chunks from breaking up too much. Form patties, squeezing enough to keep them together, but not super firmly packed, place in freezer for about 10 to 12 minutes. Arrange on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Heat oven to 400 (F). Bake 15 minutes, then place the cakes under the broiler for about 3 to 4 minutes, until brown (watch carefully, so they don't burn), turn the cakes over, broil another 3 to 4 minutes, until brown on that side. Remember, you've already cooked the pepper and onion, so it is a matter of heating the cakes thoroughly, as they have egg in them, and browning them well. Serve with homemade tartar sauce. This is the link to my recipe for tartar sauce: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/09/homemade-tartar-sauce.html 

I served my crab cakes with some French fries, and tartar sauce for both.

WORD HISTORY:
Mirth-Mirth is the noun form of modern "merry," an adjective. It goes back to Indo European "mreghuz," which meant "short." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "murgjaz," which had the notion of "short (also of time), short duration." The notion of "short duration" provided the figurative meaning, "pleasant," from the idea that time passes quickly when an activity is pleasant. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "myrige," meaning, "pleasant, delightful," and this became modern "merry," and to the base was added the suffix, "th," in those times rendered as "ð" (called "eth"), and sometimes as "þ" (called "thorn");^ thus Old English "myrgð/myrgþ," meaning "merriment, joy." This then later became "mirth." Direct relatives have all died out in the other Germanic languages, but Dutch had an adjectival form also meaning "merry, pleasant," while German had a form which remained true to the original meaning, "short, brief," and a verb meaning "to cut into pieces;" that is, "shorten." 

^ The "th" suffix goes back to Old Germanic "itho," from Indo European "itah."