Many years ago in New York, my partner Mike and I discovered a new seafood restaurant. I ordered Maine lobster, which I had read about, while Mike — who didn’t like fish with bones or seafood with shells — ordered crab cakes. He enjoyed them so much that the next time we went back I ordered crab cakes, and from that moment I was hooked. The restaurant gave me the recipe.
Back home I bought blue swimmer crabs and picked out the crabmeat to make these cakes. It was labour intensive! Then during a holiday in the Myall Lakes in New South Wales, I discovered a fish co-op where there was a crew picking out crabmeat with hairpins, which they supplied to restaurants. Now it is often available at fish markets, sometimes frozen — but make sure you get the real thing. This New York recipe is unusual, but the mayonnaise and baking powder are essential. The baking powder seems to crisp the edges and makes the crab cakes light.