CBM
chesapeake chef
Each chef puts a subtle twist on the classic she-crab soup.
The Secrets of She-Crab Soup What makes this Virginia classic award-worthy? We traveled to Tidewater to find out. VIRGINIA BEACH CVB
by Susan Moynihan
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ew people love she-crab soup more than Sean Brickell, founder of the East Coast She-Crab Soup Classic, a tasting competition that takes over the Virginia Beach boardwalk every April. “I happen to think it’s one of the finest culinary delicacies on the planet,” he says. ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com
September 2020
Almost every restaurant in Virginia’s Tidewater region serves some version of the bisque-like soup, he says. “What is curious is that each chef has a slight variation on the recipe—and each is certain that his or her recipe is the ultimate recipe.” That’s what led Brickell to dream up the She-Crab Soup Classic. As president of an events marketing company in Virginia Beach, he was looking for ways to get people to come out and enjoy the boardwalk. A soup-off would not only celebrate his favorite dish, but it would give bragging rights to winning restaurants, just in time for the summer season. The event has been a sell-out since it began in 2008. A ticket gets you 1-ounce tastes from up to 20 local restaurants and a ballot to vote for the People’s Choice awards. A panel of experts, from chefs to food critics, does the same for the Critics’ Choice category. At the end of the day, six soups in each category are awarded First Place through three Honorable Mentions for the best she-crab soup. There’s just one minor issue. South Carolina, not Virginia, takes credit for the invention of she-crab soup. Food lore has it that back in 1909, President Taft was visiting his friend R. Goodwyn Rhett, then mayor of Charleston. In an attempt to dress up the meal being served to their honored guest, Rhett’s butler William Deas added orangehued roe to the crab bisque, and thus she-crab soup was born. But food experts along the Chesapeake don’t necessarily buy that origin story. Chef John Shields has spent his career researching Bay culinary traditions, which he showcases in multiple cookbooks, a Maryland Public Television series, and on the menu at his restaurant Gertrude’s, at the Baltimore Museum of Art. “When we’re talking about she-crab soup, we’re talking about an old-timey, traditional Americana
