She-Crab Soup

3tbl Butter

2tbl Flour

3c Whole Milk

1/2 White Onion, minced

1.5tsp Old Bay

Lemon Zest, a teeny tiny bit

The Meat from Five Blue Crabs

The Roe from Two Blue Crabs

Parsley, for a pretty garnish

A few of the crabs I picked up yesterday were female (you can tell because the backfin thingy is super wide) and when I cracked them open there was a ton of hard bright orange shit. "Gross! Did you just throw it away as quickly as possible without finding out what it was?" No, you fucking moron. Since I have a brain and choose to use it, I guessed that these were the eggs and after a little webernets sleuthing it turns out I was right. Big surprise. Crab roe can be consumed raw but just about everyone on the eastern seaboard makes soup out of it. For lack of any better idea, so did I.

Make a roux with the butter and flour over low heat. Slowly drizzle in the milk while constantly whisking. Cook over low heat until the milk thickens up a little bit. This will take a while but be sure not to let it boil. Add the onion, Old Bay, and lemon zest. Lemon can be your best friend or your worst enemy so be very careful how much you use. At the end dump in the roe and crab meat and only cook it long enough to bring it to the same temperature as the soup. Traditionally, people add a splash of sherry after putting the soup in a bowl. Fuck sherry. Feel free, however, to splash a vinegar based hot sauce like Crystal or Trappey's on top. Eat it.