Crab with Style and a Dash of Lime

Statue of the Tres Pescadores

 São Luis is overflowing with delicious seafood, and the best thing on the menu is definitely the crab or caranguejo in Portuguese. São Luis is especially famous for its small variety of crab that is deliciously light and full of flavor. Go to Avenida de Litoranea and its laid-back restaurants called Barracas that line the beaches of São Luis where you are sure to get the freshest catch. Knowing that they have the best crab is only part of the fun, deciding which style of preparation you would like your crab is a whole new ball game.

Crabs native to São Luis
If you want the most enjoyment out of your crab eating experience the best dishes are the Caranguejo Toque Toque and Casquinha de Caranguejo. As its name may give away, Caranguejo Toque Toque is an interactive eating experience. When you order this dish you will receive a platter with four crabs that have been boiled in water with lemons, oil, onions, and seasonings. Along with the crab you also receive a board and two small batons.

A Caranguejo Toque Toque Feast
Why the baton? Toque is a conjugation of the verb tocar which means “to touch,” in other words you use the batons to crack open the shell of the crab as you eat every little bit of this scrumptious meal. The best part of this meal is that it does require napkins and a little bit of dirty work, but you will find everybody pulls their sleeves up and digs in, manicures and all. As a foreigner I found that in the beginning Caranguejo Toque Toque was my diet night because by the time I had finished eating one crab everyone else was halfway through their third, but I am happy to say I finally finessed the skill.

Casquinha de Caraguejo
Casquinha de Caranguejo is another matter entirely. It requires no dirty work and even comes in beautiful individual dishes. When you order Casquinha you are ordering the shredded meat of in this case crab, that has been mixed with seasonings and lime. In the past when I have ordered casquinha it has been served to me in a seashell and even out of a cleaned out crab shell. The presentation is beautiful but the flavor is what hooks you. On top of the bed of shredded meat is a layer of farinha (Farinha comes from the Manioc root and is prepared by toasting the flour of the manioc with butter and onions to create little crunchy formations, there are varieties of its preparation but the dish is a Brazilian classic).
Preparing Brazilian Vinaigrette

The farinha adds crunch to the casquinha and on top of that one could add the fresh Brazilian Vinagarette, which is made of tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, vinegar, and salt, or my personal favorite the hot sauce. Hot sauce in Brazil is different than anything I have tried in the USA. The flavor is very different and it packs more heat than I was used to eating, which is funny because generally Brazilian cuisine is not spicy.

The crab in São Luis is a must have and you can check it out on the beach where the caranguejo are known to go running along.

Fun Fact: Caranguejo Toque Toque can be very salty at times and in order to balance the salt people will tend to drink a soda with it, make the soda Guarana de Jesus and you will have a complete dinner from São Luis.


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