Its been a rough day here at TheKeyPlay dot com. Everyones been upset about last night, frustrations have been worn on sleeves, and tempers have flared. The divisions between pro- and ant- Loeffler camps have never been greater. Many have once again raised the call to return to Virginia Tech football. While I cant make the football team look like heroes of yesteryear, I can bring back a part of TheKeyPlay thats near and dear to all our hearts. Thats right, folks, its time for another overwrought food debate!
This one is brought to you by the lovable talking heads on DC sports talk radio. On 1067 The Fans midday show, co-host Danny Rouhier dropped this bomb (sorry, couldnt find embeddable audio):
I stand by it RT @granthpaulsen "I would take the best crab cake over the best porterhouse steak." - @FunnyDanny's worst comment of the day— danny rouhier (@funnydanny) October 17, 2014
Apparently the debate took the station by storm, causing afternoon host Chad Dukes (#teamsteak) to spend at least one segment taking calls from people debating the virtues of one side or the other. Now, as DC callers are wont to do, many brought out their inner politician and answered completely different questions, like discussing where to order either dish, or which dish was served better in more places. These people would be great at running for office, but we hold ourselves to a higher standard here at TheKeyPlay. So stick to this basic question, please: Would you rather have the best crabcake, or the best steak? Also, we are strictly talking crabcakes here, bushels of crabs (this would be too unfair), crab legs (this is not FSU), or crab bisque are not called into question. The only add-on here is that best is entirely up to you: however you prefer your dish prepared, thats what youre getting.
So without further ado, lets see who is right, and who is eating a bovine?
Comments
There were some really dumb calls:
This is ridiculous. My mom is not a tourist, and she enjoys crabcakes very much. I was born in Maryland, and also enjoy crabcakes. This person obviously does not enjoy life, or has never had a good crabcake
He's a Nats fan (like myself), so yeah he's probably not enjoying life. Even more so if he roots for that horrendous excuse of a football team we like to call the Redskins. At least the Zards have a shot at being somewhat competitive this year
crabcakes are the chicken fingers of seafood. Sure, you can add herbs and spices and get them just right, but in the end, it's just low quality seafood ground up and disguised (albeit quite deliciously). Gimme a great steak anyday
A good crab cake is made with jumbo lump blue crab, which is definitely not low quality seafood.
Ground up?
It's obvious you've never had a decent, let alone good one.
That's like trying to compare the porterhouse from an old goat to a ribeye from a prime steer.
Or like saying steak sucks because its dry, tough and overcooked, when you only think that way because you've only ever had well-done chuck.
I'm not going to argue that a crab cake is superior to a steak (every time), but what you have experienced is probably not at all a true crab cake. Real crab cakes are not ground. However, many, many restaurants serve what is essentially deviled crab in a patty form and then call it a crab cake. That is probably the extent of what you've tried. Based on that, then I'd agree. Deviled crab is worthless because it is overspiced and ground and devoid of a memory.
The difference is though, that a real crab cake is lump meat that is barely held together by breading (a couple of choices there) and only a very few ingredients altogether. I won't go into them, because then it will be like getting into how to make 'proper barbecue'. But real crab cakes are light and flavorful and have texture and are memorable.
The best analogy I can think of is the difference in going to McDonalds for a hamburger and in crafting your own hamburger on your backyard grill.
There are tons of places that sell steak that make you wish you'd never wasted the time and money to visit. Lots of them national franchises. Bottom line for both dishes - it's all in the preparation. I've had both that were regrettable, and I've had both that were memorable enough to last with me until I die.
according to wedding crashers: Maryland has crab cakes and football... and both have about the same level of appeal....
Why do you have 2 pictures of MD football in that post?
#TEAMSTEAK
For me, nothing with crab has never been appetizing. I've tried a few things, hoping that each time it's simply been prepared wrong, and have never liked it.
I do really enjoy a legitimate crab cake with lump crab and not crab scraps (basically a crab fish stick rather than an actual fillet) but filet mignon or porterhouse, a baked potato, and some asparagus and a glass of dark beer or dark red wine and I could eat it for a month straight.
Crab cake 110%. If you don't like crab cake, you've never had one worth having. They're the stuff dreams are made of.
I used to know some of those steaks... *tear
Sorry horse
Ive heard that Ron Mexico prefers the crabs.
As for me, give me a delicious chunk of cow and keep your sea dwellers.
I don't see why this has to be an either or proposition. Steak is amazing. Jumbo lump, real crabcakes are out of This world. The best meal in the world is surf and turf with steak and a crabcake or lobster tail. They're both amazing .
That said if were talking last meal and it's an either/or thing, it's steak all the way. Medium rare and it's not even close....
NY strip, loaded mashed potatoes, real Caesar salad, evolution Lot 3 fresh off the tap, and a bullet in my head.
Steak and lobster tail is a winning combination. I would have gone for surf and turf as my choice, but figured if the surf had to be crab cakes, I just couldn't do it.
I support Ron #teamSTEAK
I agree with you on the either/or proposition. Both steak & crab cakes have their place & time. As for last meal, I would say that neither makes my top ten. I would have to go with soft shell crab, sauteed in butter in a cast iron skillet. Give me about three of those, and nothing else matters. I'll take the lead aspirin after that.
Way to introduce some levity VT rumpet.
Crabcakes ARE for tourists, but that doesn't make them any less delicious when made properly. Surf and turf with a filet and crabcake is mmm-mmm good.
Steak. Give me a NY strip, garlic mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans and a glass of sweet tea and you've got yourself one dang good meal.
I don't know what a crabcake is.
Steak cooked on mesquite coals, please.
With corn on the cob (soaked and cooked on mesquite coals) and a loaded baked potato.
I've never understood the love affair with shellfish. They're literally the bugs of the ocean! Don't get me wrong, I'll go for shrimp whenever its available, but I always have to tell myself not to think about the fact I'm eating a sea insect.
Best steak ever on the other hand, cooked absolutely perfectly, dripping with flavor?? #TEAMSTEAK!!
I used to have a pet shrimp and let me tell you, the things Tatsu ate... There's also a juicy section of J. Maarten Troost's book The Sex Lives of Cannibals about the epicurean habits of lobsters. Without getting too detailed...poop.
Nasty. Thanks, now I have other things to lock out of my mind when consuming shrimp... ha
The Marylander in me fucking lovessss crabcakes.
But I'd rather eat a steak.
Going back to our roots...I didn't think you would take some of us back to the first morning of New Cadet Week. (We woke up to Welcome to the Jungle....along with some loud knocking and yelling).
As for the food debate....I like crab, and crabcakes, but it's far too hard to find great crabcakes...either too much filler, or just too damn expensive.
But for steak, I just have to think of Texas Roadhouse.
So, steak wins, but if I could have both, I'd take both.
Yes, this. I, for one, would drive the 3-4 hours down to eastern MD to get the best crabcakes I could find if I were in the mood, as the best isn't available in the middle of the mountains of PA. What we have here is definitely good enough, but not spectacular.
But no such deal with steak. I can find a great steak around here, and couldn't image myself driving more than a half hour to get a great steak, if a restaurant near my area had such a reputation for steak.
So great steak = easily accessible, great crab cake = trip worthy.
Tough call. My Wood Badge patrol won the golden spatula award for best chow based on a dinner menu of beef tenderloin stuffed with shaved Virginia ham with lump blue crab cakes on the side with bearnaise sauce. I'm going to cop out and claim it depends on the cut and the prep. The best I have ever had was a tomahawk steak from the Copper Grill. (Man, I miss drug rep dinners!)
I got my dad some 28 oz American Wagyu tomahawk ribeyes to throw on his big green egg for his birthday last year. Luckily he waited until I was in town to do so.
ooooh, leg for the big green egg. Such a beautiful invention
#TEAMSTEAK
Best steak I ever had was a Gotham Steak from the Old Homestead in NYC. It shaved years off my life but it was worth it.
Steak all day.
I believe both have their time and place. My mom used to own a crab shack and would make fresh crab cakes with blue crab and they were amazing.
That said, if we put best vs. best, I'd have to go with steak. I don't get to eat it very often, but I will take a hangar steak when I can.
First off, if you are going with steak, you have selected the incorrect cut.
Bone in ribeye is the best flavor and texture combination and is a good price/value ratio. No other seasoning needed as well leftovers make the best steak sandwiches because you plan on having leftovers.
Second of all, Crabs are excellent when prepared properly. Most cannot even come close to doing it.
Crabcakes are much better than that hack cut of a methane factory.
Crabs eat meat, I eat crabs. Top of the Food Chain. Gimme crab cakes.
(which is not a real cake by the way but, neither is it pie.)
I don't eat beaf and I'm from Maryland. Not even a question, go crabcakes.
I think if you're going best steak vs. best crab cakes, the steak has to win. Dry aged bone in rib-eye wins for me, and I love crab cakes.
Cows are vegetarians, crabs are scavengers. Cow's win. Steak all day every day.
I eat neither. Don't like seafood and only eat steaks at least medium well. I might eat 5 steaks a year.
On a side note, my parents and I went to a crab fest at the Inner Harbor for the Fourth of July. It had a good view of the fireworks, and all-you-can-eat crabs. Some of these people were eating 15, 18, 20 crabs each.
That's it 15-20 crabs?
What they fill up on junk or something?
That's a snack.
I love food and will not turn down either if you're offering, but I've got to go with steak. And since we're in Miami hate week, here's a tale from yesteryear.
I grew up on a small farm. My dad was a vet and we raised cows, bred them, sold them, filled up our freezer, all that. We also had 2 ponies, but they could not run on a treadmill and were therefor fairly useless. Whenever we had calves born, our parents would let us name them. My first crack at it found a bull slapped with the moniker "Sir Loin" and I was promptly stripped of my naming rights. I don't really remember my older brother naming any, but in any case, my little brother was always called upon to name the herd and would usually use something from the day's news. I remember an Apollo being named the day a rocket launched. One fall morning somewhere in the '90s we had 2 calves born. It just so happened to be the day of a Miami game, so the little bro named them Hokie & Miami. Needless to say, Hokie was the model heifer, large, confident, fearless, we could really use her on the O-line now that I think about it. Miami on the other hand was the slipperiest bovine in the world, constantly running from Hokie's obvious superiority and thereby making us find her in the subdivision adjacent to us and spend many an afternoon corralling her back home to face her inferiority. Towards the end of my high school days, all of her work running from Hokie's dominance finally got her big enough that we deemed her ready for the freezer. I have never had a steak as delicious as that Miami ribeye. You could almost taste every phone call to a buddy saying "Sorry man, I wont be able to come out tonight, Miami is eating the neighbor's azaleas again." True story.
TL:DR- F Miami
Legs for ponies and eating Miami.
Good thing you have multiple posts in this thread.
Since we're telling stories of hating teams we hate, the other day I got my flu shot from the local CVS pharmacy. There were a decent amount of people there, so I expected a bit of a wait. 45 minutes later, the pharmacist was finally ready to go. I was with my brother, who was wearing a Hokies jacket as well (this was Friday morning, so it took some guts to wear that thing in the public after Thursday night). So we sit down and I noticed the pharmacist was already wearing gloves. Not only did he handle the box with used needles in it (he never touched the needles, but still that's a dirty box just from the outside), but he did not remove his gloves after giving me my shot, before handling my brother. At the end of the session, he said something about my brother's jacket, which turns out, he was an LOLUVA alumni.
So let's think about this for a second: not only did the guy makes us wait 45+ minutes for a procedure which literally takes 10 seconds max, but he also didn't change his gloves after 1) handling a dirty box filled with used needles and 2) after handling my blood, before giving another shot. I'm no medical student, but I'm pretty sure that's definitely not standard protocol. Long story short, if either me or my brother get the flu this season, I blame UVA for everything. And again, just like yours: true story.
Standard Precautions are clear on 1 thing. Changing gloves between patients is to be done.
Handling the outside of the box, no. Changing the gloves when handling that is not required. The gloves are not necessary to be sterile but, there's no reason to believe the box has live contagious flora or pathogens. That would be an extraordinary circumstance.
Depends on local:
At home, Steak, because I (and anyone else) can cook a delicious steak because steak is inherently delicious, just don't overcook it.
At a low-level to mid-level restaurant - neither, it'll get ruined
At a high-end restaurant - Seafood, including crab cake. This is also dependent on the reputation of the place, as I would not get seafood at a steak house (i.e. Ruth Chris vs. McCormick's). If I have the choice of high-end restaurant, I'm going seafood, because I can make a delicious steak at home the next day.
Do you think Sam would be satisfied with crab cakes?
Yes.
If any of you fine TKPers are in the Flagler Beach, FL area, I highly recommend you eat at the Turtle Shack Cafe on A1A. Their Surf 'n' Turf is a filet mignon paired with a crab cake that's bigger than a Mike's burger (bun included!). I was expecting the usual "hushpuppy with crab meat" thing but I was so happy to be so wrong!
For the purposes of this debate, I'd take the Turtle Shack crab cake over any porterhouse I've ever had prepared at many fine eateries and by home grillmasters. Paired with a medium-rare filet (biased towards rare), that crab cake was Heaven on a fork.
Steak. All damn day. Fish meat is practically a vegetable.
Crabcakes. Hands down vs. a Porterhouse.
I like to think that I'm getting back at the creatures who have pinched me while wading in the ocean.
Cows don't pinch you when you're trying to catch a wave.
What about sea cows?
Sea cows just told me to Eat Mor Chikin.
But the more legit question: What about a Sea Horse on a Treadmill?
It has it's own Google image result. Seems legit
This this this this
This is awesome - leg for you, sir!
#teamcrabcake
Regardless of the debate, this thread has been making my lunch disappointing all week.
This is really hard for me as a Maryland guy. But I love steak. I think I'd have to go with a steak if I absolutely had to choose. Mainly because, so long as its not cooked too long, a steak is a steak and its gonna taste good. Crabcakes really depend on who's making them and they are easy to screw up as a lot of people have noted here.
Now, If I'm sitting at a restaurant in Annapolis or Baltimore... give me the crabcake.
Honestly, this argument goes back to the Cake vs. Pie debate. Because steak can be put into a Pie... Sweet sweet Meat Pie. It's flaky crust, and hearty center trump the crab cake....
Pie simply beats Cake everytime... even outside of the genre of dessert.
#MEATPIE
Instead of debating which is better - steak vs crab cake, I'd rather talk you into making me a steak with a side of crab cakes.
Born and raised on the shores of the Chesapeake in Southern By-God Maryland, the epicenter of the blue crab universe...and even I gotta go with #TEAMSTEAK. You just can't beat a big ol' porterhouse with a baked sweet potato on the side and a cold beer to wash it down with
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