Naoya Wada

"I enjoy food."

This simple statement goes a tad bit beyond the obvious for many though. Born and raised in California, thanks to my parents, I was fortunate to grow up with many of the culinary greats at my disposal. Judy Rodgers and Alice Waters, chef/owners of Zuni Cafe and Chez Panisse respectively, were places I would eat on occasion, and grew to love over the years.

I have been reading the books of Michael Pollan recently, also of Bay Area fame. His books, The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, bring back to light an old way of thinking when it comes to food. In short, know where it comes from, and what it takes to get to your table.

Those who know me have on one occasion or another been invited to eat at the dining table in my home, a mere 5 feet from my kitchen, a part of my house that I have come to know and love to spend time in. My appreciation for food as transformed from just the dining table of a restaurant, to the dining table in my home as well.

Currently I am on vacation with Shelli, a far ways from my home kitchen, but my sense of food of comes with me on this journey to Hilton Head Island, SC. Shelli had told me countless stories of her childhood, including memories of crabbing off a pier, using just a weight, chicken neck, and a line of string. She would spend hours on a neighbor's pier, reeling in crab after crab as they feasted on this simple diet of chicken neck. Little did they know they would be boiled hours later for her to eat. This adventure I wanted to try.

A couple of days ago we set off and went crabbing. We set up on a pier near our room with no such luck. Unfortunately hermit crabs don't count as a dinner feast. Today however, we set out across the Cross Island Parkway and talked our way onto the boat docks. It was a success. With no one else fishing the docks, a mere 10 feet stood between us and our dinner. We waited with anticipation and excitement as we set the crab basket out with it's chicken neck. Within 10 minutes we had our first crab. Spending about 1 1/2 hours there, we finally got 2 good sized crabs in our bucket and were on our way back to the hotel.

We used a simple method to cook the crabs. 2 bottles of beer, White Wine Vinegar, Lemon, Garlic, and Old Bay Seasoning. We waited for the mixture to come to a boil before getting our two friends into the pot, along with some fresh corn on the cob. 15 minutes later, and with the help of the oven for the asparagus, we had our dinner for the evening. The crab was quite tasty and rich in flavor. It is quite a bit of work getting all the meat out of the body, but with great respect to our friends who fed us, we left no meat wasted whatsoever. It was a great meal.

Much to Pollan's idea of knowing where your food comes from, I was glad (though a little sad at the same time) to know that the crabs we had for dinner were caught in SC, kept fresh in a bucket of brackish, and steamed in a combination of salt, garlic, lemon, etc. What an experience to know what it takes to cook and eat fresh crab from start to finish.