I live near the ocean and I am very picky about the seafood I eat.  It has to be fresh, it has to be good quality, I’d like it to be as sustaineable as possible, and I don’t want the flavour of the actual fish or seafood to be covered up by any mayonnaise, masked with bread crumbs, or doused in sugar and spice.  I also like to cook so it is rare that I find prepared seafood that I like with a few exceptions.  I will gladly have the store steam my lobsters (especially if they are willing to snip the elastics for me before they go in the steamer.)  I am a fan of the poached salmon from The Fishmonger in my neighbourhood.  Full Moon restaurant makes a pretty fab pot of mussels with fries and some grilled clams from Kirkland Tap & Trotter are a real treat.  I’m getting sidetracked though because there are plenty of placed I don’t mind going out for seafood, but today I’m talking about bringing prepared seafood home to cook.  I was recently sent some crab cakes from Chesapeake Crab Cakes to sample and I have to say they are probably the best crab cakes I have ever had (my own included) bar none.  I think the reason for this is two-fold.

First, the Chesapeake Crab Cakes are made with some of the most amazing crab available.  If you start with something amazing and you don’t add too much to it, you end up with something incredible.  Second, the Crab Cakes are filled with chunks of jumbo lump crab and the rest of the ingredients work to just barely hold it all together.  The crab is fresh and hand picked from their shells and not pasteurized.  To make it even better, the crab cakes are shipped fresh and baked in the oven, which is brilliant because then you don’t worry about them falling apart and they get nice and golden with the help of the broiler.

The crab cakes are pricey, but you definitely get what you pay for and I can’t wait for our upcoming anniversary to order some more.  It made dinner so special and yet so simple, because I just could grill some asparagus, or toss a salad together and dinner was served.  They crab cakes are also gigantic.  One crab cake is a full main course.  For a couple, you can get at least two meals out of a pack of four crab cakes which costs $45 and 8 are $85.  They are the perfect gift for my parent’s anniversary too.  They make gluten-free crab cakes as well.  Chesapeake Crab Cakes can be ordered here and ship via 2 day air.  The killer is the shipping which is $25 for 4-8 and $50 for 12-16, but you want the crab to arrive fresh and it is so worth it to have this completely fresh, unpasteurized crab so, there’s just no way around it.  Trust me, though, if you need a little simple (fabulous) deliciousness this summer, these crab cakes will do the trick.