Crabby Sunday

I was recently lucky enough to come into some free crabmeat - I use the phrase "come into" because the cost of crabmeat is high enough that it might as well be inherited riches.

It was crab claw-meat, too, one of my favorite types, because claw meat is so tasty. The occasion was a special afternoon event thrown by friends, to a group of what turned out to be picky eaters. The raw vegetable crudites, the tiny grilled shrimp, and the squares of polenta topped with fresh mozzarella went like hot-cakes; the sherry-perfumed wild mushroom mousse, fried sage leaves stuffed with sausage, and the crab claws languished on their platters, for some reason. Though the host is known for his cellar, most of the guests sipped white wine or seltzer instead of enjoying glasses of excellent Gigondas.

Too bad for them!

At the end of the evening, we lingered to say goodbye, and there was our host, at the buffet, perplexed at why over a dozen crab claws still remained. "Go into the kitchen," he said, "and ask the caterers to give you a plastic container!"

So I was the lucky recipient of eight fat, luscious steamed crab claws!

Now what to do? I could have made crab cakes. But something this fresh, and this abundant, and this unexpected - I wanted to taste the essence of CRAB. And on a warm autumn evening? What I wanted was a nice simple crab salad.

I chopped some scallions, some celery ribs, and some fresh tarragon. Then broke up the crabmeat. A squeeze of lemon and a couple blops of Best Foods mayonnaise - the full fat kind, not the "Light" I usually use! - and we had cool, delicious crabmeat salad for Sunday dinner!

Served with a glass of French rose from Provence, a crusty baquette, and a sampling of our recently home-made pickles - what a feast!