The crab was crawling around the kitchen on Halloween as students wandered in for their fourth class of the day. They’re the lucky ones that got to crack this crab open and snack on it.
The class was led by Diane Hubert, who teaches cooking classes at Kodiak High School. Her students call her “chef,” but she dressed as a fisherman for the holiday and in honor of the special item on the day’s menu.
“You guys get to cook the crab,” she told the class. “You also get to eat the crab, if you’d like, to taste the crab.”
Chef Hubert said the crab’s been out of water for a few hours, so it’s not as feisty as when she got it from the dock.
“You may pet the crab,” she instructed. “I’m gonna give everybody a moment of silence with the crab.”
Fresh seafood like this is a huge part of living along Alaska’s coastlines. The state boasts the most robust commercial fisheries in the nation, and sometimes fishing boats will sell their catches right off the dock.
This red king crab was caught by the Silver Spray and donated for the kids to learn what to do if they ever buy or catch one themselves. Unlike salmon and lots of other seafood that dies well before it gets to a kitchen table, dispatching this crab is also part of the lesson.
The students wash up, and Chef Hubert instructs them to help one of their peers who is lining up a big chef’s knife on the crab’s body, or carapace.
Students expressed a variety of emotions as it was cracked open, some being sad, others being excited to eat it.
They then trimmed the gills from its innards, washed it, and put it in a pot to steam.
Several of Chef Hubert’s coworkers stopped by for the lesson, including the principal, Jonathan Acker. He has family in the class and he’s no stranger to live crab like this.
“My grandfather had a place on the Oregon coast and I remember as a five-year-old child going out of Newport Bay and going crabbing in the Pacific Ocean,” he said.
It’s still his first time cooking a king crab though.
In the end they served the crab with a seasoned butter sauce for everyone to enjoy. For Chef Hubert, she’s just happy to be surrounded by students eager to experiment and try new things with her.
“I’m like ‘here we go,’ and they get all excited,” she said. “I try it – it’s usually fantastic. I’m really proud of them.”
She said she plans to keep encouraging student creativity and even booking catering gigs for the class.
