It’s crab season in Petaluma

Whether at crab feeds or at home, this guide has you covered for the many ways to enjoy Dungeness crab.|

Sonoma and Marin County residents have long looked to the ocean for a large variety of tasty seafood. Dungeness crabs have long topped the local seafood list, not only due to their abundance, but also because of their distinct flavor.

Called Dungies for short, they get their full name from the Dungeness Spit and Dungeness Port both located on the north coast of Washington.

With the commercial season scheduled to open shortly, the much anticipated crab season is upon us. Whether you catch your own, buy straight off the boat, pick them up at a local grocery store, dine on them at a restaurant, or attend one of the many local crab feed fundraisers, there are plenty of options to enjoy delicious Dungies this season.

The most obvious sign that crab season is upon us are the banners around town for one of the many Petaluma crab feeds. Friend and food personality, Clark Wolf, cringes every time he hears the term “feed,” saying that it reminds him of animals eating around a trough. Fair enough, but because I grew up attend Petaluma feeds, I see the word as more of a nod to the family-style dining that we rarely experience these days.

Half the reason I like attending feeds is that we get to meet new people, reconnect with old friends, all while breaking bread together in a festive and communal environment.

For the uninitiated, here is a primer on everything you need to know in order to navigate crab season locally, including what to expect from your average Petaluma crab feeds, where to find the best crab, and how to catch your own.

Crab feed guide

First and foremost, Petaluma crab feeds are typically all-you-can-eat, unlike in other parts of the Bay Area, where I have attended only to find out I was limited to one or two crabs. Naturally, Petalumans take the word “feed” seriously, and do not add it to the end of an event’s title unless they mean it.

Most crab feeds will tempt guests with salad, garlic bread and pasta, in an attempt to fill you up prior to the crab hitting the table. But when your goal is to eat as many delicious Dungies as possible, it’s important to steer clear of the fillers and hold out for the crab.

At most crab feeds, you will find raffles tickets, drinks and desserts for a small additional fee. Because these events help nonprofits, I encourage everyone indulge liberally, yet responsibly, in all three.

Remember to bring your own accoutrements if you want to make sure you are covered. A good crab feed kit will include implementations, butter-melters, lemons and crab bibs, just in case. However, leave the mallets at home because these crabs are pre-cracked and are fairly easy to crack by hand or with a nut cracker.

Mallets can easily damage the meat. However, whether you bring your own butter, lemons, or special sauces, or they are supplied on the table, try the crab plain first. It is not unusual for it to be so fresh that any additions will actually take away from or mask its naturally sweet flavor.

Buy your tickets early. Although there may seem to be a ton of local crab feeds, most will sell out early, so do not risk being turned away at the door. That being said, if you decide spur of the moment, by all means call the host organization because they sometimes have last minute cancellations, or will squeeze in an extra chair for you, because that is how it is done here in Petaluma.

Finally, because these are fundraisers run by volunteers, be patient if their websites are not up and running, or you have to buy tickets directly from one of their members, with cash or a check. Remember, it’s things like this that help keep Petaluma’s small town charm intact.

Chronologically, Petaluma’s 2016-2017 Dungeness crab feeds are as follows:

Petaluma Holy Ghost Society (Petaluma Holy Ghost/Portuguese Hall) - Saturday, Dec. 3, $50, contact: 762-4995

The first of the season, this is the PHGS’s chance to raise funds for the upkeep and restoration of this historic Hall, which dates back well over a hundred years.

Water, soda, beer and mixed drinks are available for sale, but table wine and punch is included. Unique to this feed is the handmade “Filos,” which are a kind of Portuguese donut. At $5 a half-dozen, the neighborly thing to do is pick up a dozen or two for your table. And as with most Portuguese events, dancing will start after dinner and likely go well into the night.

Cinnabar Theater (Lagunitas Brewing Company) - Tuesday, Dec. 13, $55, contact: cinnabartheater.com

When Laura Sunday, of the Great Petaluma Chili Cookoff and the Taste of Petaluma, wanted to create another fundraiser for Cinnabar Theater, she asked me if I would lend my crab feed knowledge and experience to this project, and I did.

My main suggestion was to forgo the pasta, and just get straight to the crab because that is what most of us attend for. Although there is bread and slaw, the crab purposefully hits the table along with all the other food, so crab lovers can get right to it.

Senhor Santo Cristo Society’s Portuguese Crab Feed (Petaluma Holy Ghost/Portuguese Hall) - Saturday, Jan. 14, $50, children 6-12, $25, contact: 304-2819 or 510-604-7746

This is a different group than the Petaluma Holy Ghost Society, but also includes wine and punch on the tables, and will include dancing after dinner. Unique to this Petaluma crab feed is a choice of two preparations, the standard chilled crab, as well as warm seasoned crab, which is a crowd favorite and should be tried at least once.

Petaluma 7-11 Lyon’s Club (Petaluma Vets Hall) - Saturday, Jan. 21, $50, contact: 711lions@gmail.com

This feed is in one of the oldest and best attended, with all proceeds going to various local charities. Along with great food, this feed has an enormous amount of raffle items.

Pacific Empire Chorus (Petaluma Vets Hall) - Saturday, Jan. 28, $50, contact: pacificempire.org

In only their fifth year, the PEC does it up right with none other than the Pasta King providing garlic bread and two types of pasta. Gourmet home-made desserts are also included in the price. Along with a vast array of silent auction items, they also offer the balloon pop. Guests pay $20 for a balloon and upon popping it find a great local gift certificate inside, always valued at well above the $20 purchase price. Best of all, because this benefits an award winning chorus group, they perform two 10 minute A Cappella sets during dinner.

Boys & Girls Club (Lucchesi Park Clubhouse) - Saturday, Jan. 28, $95, contact: mpbgc.org

Although the priciest of the bunch, the 14th Annual Crustacean Celebration ticket price includes everything - food, dessert, drinks and music for after dinner dancing.

Duhnam School (Hermann Sons Hall) - Saturday, Jan. 28, price TBD, contact: Dunhamsd.org/PTO

The ticket price includes plentiful side dishes, dessert and adult beverages. In its 10th year, this fundraiser aims to raise $8,000 for Dunham Elementary School’s enrichment programs, classrooms and field trips.

Petaluma Woman’s Club - Friday, Feb. 10, $50, contact: petalumawomansclub.com

This was the first crab feed I attended, and is still one of my favorites, in part because the crab is always so tasty, but also because drinks are included. Also included is their famous “Better Than Sex” cake for dessert, which truly is one of the best cakes I have ever had.

Rotary Club of Petaluma (Petaluma Vets Hall) - Friday, Feb. 24, price TBD, contact: petalumarotary.org

Having been held for close to 45 years, this is the oldest of the bunch, and rightly finishes out the Petaluma crab feed season. Ice cream for dessert is a nice touch, as is their Super Raffle, where guests can win up to $8,000 in cash. Proceeds support The Miracle League North Bay project, which is specially designing and building a baseball field at Lucchesi Park for children with physical and mental disabilities.

Dining out

In the past is has been difficult to find whole cracked crabs on the menu of local restaurants, but no more. The Shuckery and Brewsters Beer Garden, two of my favorite new restaurants, are planning on offering whole cracked crabs on their menu, which is music to my ears.

Buying in Petaluma

For those looking to put on their own home crab feed, the options are usually plentiful, as most grocery stores in the area will carry Dungies. Long-time locals Eleni and Roman Scanagatta, of Roman Scanagatta plumbing, tell me they prefer Petaluma Market or Whole Foods. Both of those are good options, especially for those that used to get their Dungies at G&G Market, which recently sold to Safeway.

If you are interested in buying crabs straight from the fisherman, but do not have the time to drive to the coast, Petaluma-raised Anna Larsen has created the perfect solution through her Siren Fish Co. This is a community-supported fishery, or CSF. They supply members with sustainable seafood, directly from the source, delivered to your door, or one of several pick-up locations around Petaluma and throughout the Bay Area.

Once you join the CSF at www.sirenseasa.com, you can choose to have your entire share be Dungies, or mix it up with other great local seafood.

Buying at Bodega Bay

For anyone who has not done so, I highly recommend setting aside one day this winter for a drive out to Bodega Bay to pick up crab straight from the source. Driving through the scenic countryside and along the coast helps remind us where our food comes from and how lucky we are to live in such a food-rich region.

Most of the Bodega Bay fish restaurants also offer a fish counter where you are basically buying crab right off the boats out back.

The first shop you run into upon arriving in Bodega Bay is Fishetarian, which is owned and operated by Shane Lucas, of the Lucas Wharf family. They offer both live and cooked crabs to go, directly from their own crabbing boats. They also offer award-winning clam chowder, fish and chips, barbecued oysters and other prepared food, as well as local beers on tap for those who want to hang out before taking their crabs home.

Next up is the Tides Wharf, which also offers both cooked and live crab.

Around the bay, heading toward Bodega Head, visitors will find Paisano Brothers Fisheries, which offers live crab. Siting side-by-side, Fisherman’s Cove and Spud Point Crab Company both offer a wide variety of seafood on their dine-in menu, as well as cooked crabs to go.

Do it yourself

If you have never crabbed before, you are missing out on one of the great pleasures of living in the North Bay. Nothing connects us more to our past than going out and catching our food, and crabbing is one of the easiest means to do this.

Step one is to stop in to Petaluma Sports Shop & Dive, 884 Bodega Ave., and talk to any of the knowledgeable staff. In speaking with Herb Williams, I learned that they have everything a crabber could need, from pots to snares, daily ($15) and yearly ($47) fishing licenses, and dive tank air fills. (Yes, you can dive for crab.)

Herb can tell you where you need a license and where you do not, and where local crabbers have been having the most success. Some jetties and piers require no license, but check with Herb first before going out on your own.

Mike Ellis, friend and fellow Petaluma Supper Club member, tells me he kayaks out beyond Hog Island in Tomales Bay, drops his crab pot, waits a bit and usually takes in a pretty good haul. Cody Hildreth, owner of Petaluma’s much anticipated food truck depot “The Block,” tells me that after posting up on a jetty for a few hours with a snare attached to a fish pole he comes home with four or five crabs.

Make sure to follow all the rules, and beware of rock crab. Although also good to eat, different fishing rules apply. To the unfamiliar, they can look the same as Dungies, but because they spend most of their time in the rocks, their shells are much harder to crack than Dungies.

There are plenty of instructions online on how to prepare your fresh-caught live crab. I prefer to put them in the fridge first, because this forces the crab into a kind of coma, which makes them easier to handle and leads to less suffering, I am told. Keep in mind that this year the California Department of Public Health is warning consumers to avoid eating the “viscera,” which are the internal organs, also known as the “butter” or “guts.”

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