Engineer's version of "Crab Picking" Guide Chesapeake blue crabs are definitely not fast food. A Chesapeake blue crab feast is a long, leisurely afternoon or evening spent with friends and family around a large table wrapped in brown paper with conversation and a favorite brew flowing freely. Picking may seem to produce low yield in relation to time spent...until...that first bite of sweet white lump meat. Any inkling that the effort might not have been worth it is washed away by the cold suds and good time that follow. You'll be hooked then reeled in to this Chesapeake delicacy. "Picking," is the art of eating a steamed hardshell crab. A Jimmy or A Sook, That is the Question Turn the crab upside down to determine if it is a male or female. Jimmies (=male crabs) and Sooks (=female crabs) are easy to tell apart by the shape of the apron in the center of the crabs underside. Jimmies have a long and narrow apron that looks like an upside down T (or "Washington Monument"). The Jimmy is prized by crab connoisseurs because it can grow to larger sizes than the female. Note his blue claws -- that's where the "Blue Crab" name came from. Jimmy "Washington Monument" Jimmy with blue claws Sooks have a semi-circular, bell shaped apron (or "U.S. Capitol Building") that comes to a point at the top. Another easy way to tell a male from a female crab is that all female crabs "paint their fingernails"; (i.e., have bright red claw tips.) Male crabs do not. An immature female crab is called a 'Sally' or 'She-Craby.' When a Sook carries eggs, she is also called a "Sponge" crab. Mature Sook "U.S. Capitol Building" Immature Sally (or She-Crab) Mature Sook with painted fingernalis "Sponge" crab (=Sook) Iterative Blue Crab-Picking Procedure Pick a nice heavy crab with large claws. Flip the crab over Flip open the apron Flip off the top shell Pull out the gills and innards that are hanging out. The yellow stuff is called the "mustard." It's actually the crab's fat and many people enjoy eating it. Break the body in half, leaving the legs and claws on. Squish down the flipper end (backfin) and twist it to produce a big piece of backfin meat. Pull off other legs and claws one by one. Suck out the little piece of meat at the end of each. Save the claws. Take a paring knife and split each half of the crab through horizontally, exposing chambers of crabmeat. Use the knife to pick out the meat. Take a claw and break it apart at the joint. Break the claw with a mallet and pick out the crabmeat. Go to Step 1. Keep repeating the process until you're full.