Pride of the Northwest

Winter and spring are peak seasons for Dungeness crab

Owen Dugan

From the Mar 31, 2023, issue

Dungeness crabs are a great point of local pride on the West Coast. As Josh Bergström, owner of Bergström Wines in Dundee, Ore., says, “When Oregonians think about our wines, we think about our foods like the hazelnut, chanterelles and Dungeness crab. It’s one of the pillars of our local foods that we really cherish. It’s unique and so special.”

While crabs are available most of the year, the biggest ones are caught during the winter and spring. Bergström likes to get to the ocean before sunrise and drop a few big, heavy traps off a pier, then relax with tea or Champagne and a book for a few hours. “My winemaker and her husband, who’s also a winemaker, go crabbing in the morning, and then on their way back go chanterelle hunting in the forest,” Bergström says. “They’ll go home and make homemade ravioli filled with chanterelles and crab. That’s the whole day. And the cool thing about it is you can make this full meal just by foraging.”

The main selling point of these crabs is their size. It’s not that bigger is better, rather that bigger means a higher ratio of meat to shell. Compared to its East Coast counterparts, Dungeness yields bigger pieces of meat, especially in the body, making its texture more full and luscious. Proponents also point out its sweeter, more delicate flavor.

Simple is best when cooking this crustacean. Fresh, whole crabs are steamed or boiled for about eight minutes per pound. They are then picked and eaten, or refrigerated. “[Picking] is a social thing,” Bergström says. “Everybody gets one or two [crabs], and you’re cracking, you’re building piles of meat, or you eat as you go. You just need a lot of napkins.” He serves them with lemon, melted butter, homemade aïoli, a garlicky salad and toasted bread.

Those of us who don’t live near the Pacific Ocean must rely on commercial crabbers to deliver these delicacies from the sea. There is a distinct culture to crab fishing, as iconic as lobster fishing in the Northeast. The big difference is that crabbing in the Pacific is a much rougher task than the glassy water experience of lobstering. The deeper seas are cold and rough, the equipment heavy and the hours long. (Watch Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove on Discovery for a taste of how brutal it can be.)

As with lobster fishing, there’s a real stewardship in crabbing. The Northwest has consistently been rated among the most sustainable harvests for crab. Catching crabs does little damage to the ocean, and the local industry strictly enforces which genders and sizes can be kept.

“I’ve always thought of lobster as kind of the apex of that kind of shellfish,” Bergström says. “But lobster is a little bit firmer, whereas Dungeness [crab] is so tender. It really delivers on so many levels.”

How to Get It

Fresh is ideal, but often outside of the Northwest only cooked crabs are available, either whole or picked. Prices vary, but expect to pay about $25 per pound (whole crabs average around 2 pounds), and considerably more if the meat has been picked. Below are some Washington-based purveyors who sell Dungeness crab and other seafood gems:

1. Pacific Dream Seafoods (pacdream.com)

2. Pure Food Fish Market (freshseafood.com)

3. Epicurean Seafood (epicureanseafood.com)

Wine Match

Josh Bergström recommends drinking local to the source: “It’s the ultimate pairing for Willamette Valley Chardonnay or other high-acid wines that have some salinity to them. It’s just so pure, so fresh. The crab has a sweetness to it that makes it just such a great white wine thing.”