Crabcakes & Wine

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. We have been eating a lot of Dungeness crab lately and I love crab cakes, especially when they’re made with lots of crab and not a lot of breading. They’re a pretty versatile food served as either an appetizer or an entrée. Today, I will share some great wines that seem to work well with crab cakes.

Now one thing I do know is that everyone who makes them seems to have their own favorite crab cake recipe. I had crab cakes with just a little bit or curry flavor and they were accompanied by a fabulous fruit salad. I would have served a nice Rose’ or a slightly chilled Beaujolais Villages with them. Another crab cake I like to make is to add grated fresh ginger and minced cilantro and jalapeno to a basic crab cake recipe. It is superb when served with a sweeter Gewurztraminer. Now the breading is usually in the form of breadcrumbs and it doesn’t take much to hold the crab together but some people use a lot of breading. If they are made that way they can go fairly well with an oakier Chardonnay. And also if you use an Italian seasoned bradcrumb and add sundried tomatoes and basil it could actually go with a light Dolcetto. Now crab cakes are also made with all kinds of crab so a sweeter crab such as Dungeness really shouldn’t be too heavily seasoned they have lots of flavor all their own. If you enjoy Viognier, I recommend you fry up a Dungeness crab cake and enjoy!! Crabcakes are simple to prepare and I must admit I like them best with a simple Riesling – the wine just seems to bring something wonderful out of the crab and really shows it off.  So think about crabcakes and Riesling the next time you get some fresh crab. And thanks for joining us on today’s Vine to Wine.