Flashback to the Seventies: Crab Dip

by Bruce Watson, Posted Jul 24th 2009 @ 5:00PM

Photo: jmurawski/Flickr

In this weekly series, home cook Bruce Watson works his way through a decades-old family cookbook, adapting the best recipes exclusively for Slashfood.

In the mid-1970s, when my mother put "Margaret's Hot Crab Dip" in our family cookbook, the recipe seemed exciting and somewhat exotic. After all, the simple combination of crab, scallion and cream cheese was basically a reverse engineering of the kind of appetizers that upscale restaurants were serving in Maryland and Washington, D.C. at the time, and its simple-yet-spicy flavor made it a hit at parties.

However, years later, when a girlfriend took me to meet her family in South Carolina, it took all of about 10 seconds to convert me to the wonders of chilled Carolina crab dip. This was lucky, as it seemed like every restaurant carried the stuff and passed it out with every meal. My girlfriend's mother's recipe changed depending upon the day, the amount of crab on hand, and whether or not I was taking notes. What follows is a pretty close approximation of her concoction.

Get the recipe for South Carolina-style crab dip after the jump.

The woman who might have become my mother-in-law endlessly insisted that this recipe is hardly worth making if one doesn't have access to fresh crabs, preferably caught off the deck in the creek behind one's house. Respectfully, I must disagree: this tastes outstanding, even if the crabmeat comes from a can.

South Carolina-Style Crab Dip

Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound lump crabmeat, crumbled (see note)
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish, drained
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2-3 tablespoons Cajun seasoning, to taste (see note)

In large bowl, stir cream cheese until smooth. Add crumbled crabmeat, horseradish, lemon juice, cheese and Cajun seasoning to taste. Pack into ramekins or small bowls, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. Serve with sliced French bread or crackers.

Notes:
Crabmeat generally comes in 6-ounce cans, which can make this recipe difficult. Since South Carolina crab dip has a far higher crab-to-cream cheese ratio than my mother's dip, I tend to be a bit flexible. If you are serving this dip to people who are lukewarm about crab, go with two cans; if they love the stuff, go with three.

Regarding Cajun seasoning, this is largely a matter of taste. Personally, my favorite is Tony Chachere's; unfortunately, Tony's isn't available in large portions of the country (including, apparently, my current home in New York). In a pinch, most brands will do (though I avoid Lawry's).

Filed Under: Retro cookery, Food Politics, Ingredients
Tags: america, appetizers, beyond rice krispie, beyond rice krispie treats, BeyondRiceKrispie, BeyondRiceKrispieTreats, comfort food, Crab dip, CrabDip, hors doeuvres, retro food, shellfish, South Carolina, SouthCarolina, southern states, summer

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-24-2009 @6:51PM Pyrofish said... Crab is always great, but to change it up a little try smoked fish in it's place. We smoke kingfish and amberjack and use it in place of the crab. It's always devoured! The wonderful smokiness combined with the creamy texture is drool worthy.

It may take a little more effort, especially if you smoke your own fish like we do, but it's worth it!
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7-25-2009 @2:09PM HaterTot said... Wait, there are parts of the country where this was ever off the menu?!

I kid. I've lived in DC for so long (with a year or two in Baltimore and a lot of time sailing in Annapolis) that I forget that this isn't a staple everywhere. Crab dip rocks. I also love to throw some corn and/or artichokes in there. Or spinach. Anything really!
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7-25-2009 @8:59AM Bryan Price said... And I thought my crab dip was dead simple.

Crab (how much you want, the crabbier the better...)
1 8 ounce cream cheese
1 8 ounce pimento cheese spread

Mix the above three ingredients.

Make cocktail sauce (horseradish, ketchup, worcestershire, hot sauce, lemon juice) and top the mix with the sauce.
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