Crab Louie
{{short description|Type of salad}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Crab Louie
| image = Princess Seafood Restaurant - April 2024 - Sarah Stierch 04.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = A Crab Louie salad in Fort Bragg, California in 2024.
| alternate_name = Crab Louis
| country = United States
| region = West Coast
| creator =
| course = Hors d'œuvre
| served = Chilled or room temperature
| main_ingredient = Crab meat, hard-boiled eggs, tomato, asparagus, Iceberg lettuce, Louis dressing
| variations =
| calories =
| other =
}}
Crab Louie salad, also known as Crab Louis salad or the King of Salads,{{cite web|title=The King of Salads: Crab Louie|url=http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/04/16/the-king-of-salads-crab-louie/|author=Jess Kapadia|date=April 16, 2012|accessdate=January 2, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://whatscookingamerica.net/Salad/CrabLouieSalad.htm|title=Crab Louie Salad History and Recipe|work=What's Cooking America|accessdate=January 2, 2019}} is a type of salad featuring crab meat. The recipe dates back to the early 1900s and originates on the West Coast of the United States.
History
The exact origins of the dish are uncertain, but it is known that Crab Louie was being served in San Francisco, at Solari's, as early as 1914.[http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/SaladHistory.htm History of Salads (USA)] A recipe for Crab Louie exists from this date in Bohemian San Francisco by Clarence E. Edwords,[http://www.books-about-california.com/Pages/Bohemian_San_Francisco/Bohemian_SF_Appendix.html#Anchor-Solari's-3800 Solari's Bohemian Dinner] and for a similar "Crabmeat a la Louise" salad in the 1910 edition of a cookbook by Victor Hirtzler,Weinstein, Jeff: "Condiment Time Travel," in ArtsJournal, 3/8/2011, with images of the original Hotel St. Francis cookbook from 1910. [http://www.artsjournal.com/outthere/2011/03/time_travel_in_a_bottle_.html] head chef of the city's St. Francis Hotel.{{cite news|work=Deseret News|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/984606/A-salad-by-any-other-name---.html?pg=all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524050028/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/984606/A-salad-by-any-other-name---.html?pg=all|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 24, 2014|title=A salad by any other name...|date=2003-05-21|author=Valerie Phillips}} Another early recipe is found in The Neighborhood Cook Book, compiled by the Portland Council of Jewish Women in 1912.{{cite web|last=Engeman|first=Richard|title=Crab Louis|url=http://oregonrediviva.blogspot.com/2012/10/crab-louis-1912.html|access-date=2013-03-23|archive-date=2014-05-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524050533/http://oregonrediviva.blogspot.com/2012/10/crab-louis-1912.html|url-status=dead}} San Francisco's Bergez-Frank's Old Poodle Dog restaurant menu included "Crab Leg à la Louis (special)" in 1908, named for the chef Louis Coutard who died in May 1908.Peters, Erica J., San Francisco: A Food Biography. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2013, p. 182.
Other accounts place the salad's origin as The Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington; or the Olympic Club in Seattle.{{cite news |last=Harrington |first=Kirsten |date=April 4, 2012 |title=Salad Mystery |url=https://www.inlander.com/food/salad-mystery-2137845 |work=Inlander |accessdate=November 25, 2024}}
Ingredients
The main ingredient for Crab Louie, as the name suggests, is crab meat. The preferred crab is Dungeness crab, but other crab meat can be substituted, including cheaper imitation crab meat. Although variations of the recipe exist, an essential ingredient is a creamy dressing such as Louis dressing, Thousand Island dressing or green goddess dressing. This dressing is either served on the side or mixed with the other ingredients, depending on which recipe is used.
A typical Crab Louie salad consists of:{{Cite web |url=http://killersalad.com/archives/64 |title=Typical Crab Louie salad recipe |access-date=2008-01-07 |archive-date=2008-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211112629/http://killersalad.com/archives/64 |url-status=dead }}
- Crab meat
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Tomato
- Cooked asparagus
- Iceberg lettuce
- Louis dressing, based on mayonnaise and chili sauce
Other ingredients such as olives and green onions have also been listed in some recipes.
A variation called the Lobster Louie is prepared the same way, but substitutes lobster instead of crab meat.{{cite book|title=James Beard's American Cookery|author=James Beard|year=2010|isbn=031609868X|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|page=45}}
See also
References
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{{Salads}}
Category:Cuisine of the San Francisco Bay Area