Soft-Shell Crabs

Soft-shells are almost absurdly delectable. During the warm months, particularly in late spring, the blue crabs that live around New Orleans shed their old hard shells. For a brief time afterward, they can be eaten almost whole. The process is closely monitored by crab farmers, who know when the crabs are about to molt. They remove the crabs from the water as soon as that happens, before the new shell stiffens.

A crab grows so much in the minutes after it sheds that it seems impossible that it ever could have fit in the old shell. If the crab is taken before it sheds and pumps up, and the shell is removed by hand, the meat is richer and more intense. That’s what is done to “buster” crabs, which usually lose their legs and claws in the process.