Tampa man carries on deviled crab tradition inspired by Ybor City immigrants (2024)

FAQs

What is the origin of the deviled crab? ›

Deviled crab (croqueta de jaiba in Spanish) is a crab meat croquette. Deviled crab croquettes originated in Tampa, Florida, where they were developed in the Spanish, Cuban and Italian immigrant community of Ybor City. It is typically served for lunch or as a snack, and it is meant to be eaten with one hand.

The mixture is traditionally spooned into a crab shell and then topped with buttered breadcrumbs and baked, but ramekins can also be used. Deviled crab is wonderful as a first course, or can be enjoyed as an entrée when served with a fresh salad or green vegetable.

The aptly named Toxic Reef Crab (also referred to as the Devil Crab), Zosimus aeneus, can be so toxic as to kill within a few hours of consumption and has been reported to be used by Pacific Islanders as a means for suicide.

The Brachyura, or 'true' crabs, are the most derived and diverse group of crustaceans. They are first known from the Mid–Jurassic (~160 Ma.) and rapidly diversified worldwide during the Cretaceous (~146 to 66 Ma.).

In a Portuguese cave beside the Atlantic Ocean, Neanderthals may have made brown crabs a menu mainstay. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence that the early humans were cooking and eating crab meat 90,000 years ago, according to a study published Tuesday in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology.

Most locals call them devil crab, not deviled. Lore has it someone once ate one and said it was hot as the devil and the name stuck. A reflection of the population of Ybor City in the 1920s, they're a mix of Spanish, Cuban, and Italian ingredients, combined with blue crab from Tampa Bay.

Fully cooked, serve warm or cold. Heating Instructions (from thawed product-cooking from frozen not recommended): Microwave: Heat for 45 seconds on high. Oven: Heat for 10-12 minutes at 425°F.

The Claim: Never Eat Shellfish in a Month Without an R. American Indians are said to have introduced this warning centuries ago to early settlers, and nowadays the saying is applied to the months without an R, namely May through August.

Xanthidae is a family of crabs known as gorilla crabs, mud crabs, pebble crabs or rubble crabs. Xanthid crabs are often brightly coloured and are highly poisonous, containing toxins which are not destroyed by cooking and for which no antidote is known.

The most preferred meat from a king crab is in the legs. Most king crab enthusiasts state that the best section is the merus section, that is, the largest section of the crab leg. Compared to other crabs, the king crab claws are not as notorious as the legs.

Where did black pepper crab originate? ›

The creation of Singapore's black pepper crab is attributed to Long Beach Seafood Restaurant in 1959.

Imitation crab, also known as “krab” or “crab sticks,” is a type of seafood made from white fish and starch that is molded to resemble and taste like snow or spider crab meat. It was invented in 1974 by Sugiyo Co. of Japan under the name “kanimam” and is now consumed around the globe.

This stringy, bitter tasking, substance is actually the crab's lungs. It is a myth that eating the “devil” will make you sick; it is just that the lungs have an unpleasant taste. Just use your fingers to pinch it, or scrape with a knife to discard.

Chilli crab is said to have been invented by Cher Yam Tian in the mid-1950s when she added bottled chilli sauce to her dish of stir-fried crabs, instead of using tomato sauce, her usual ingredient. In 1956, she and her husband began selling the dish from a pushcart along the seaside.