John Besh's 1903-Inspired Crab-Stuffed Tomatoes
Photo: chefjohnbesh/Instagram
"Old school" is sometimes the best school, at least according to chef John Besh. The champion of New Orleanian cuisine recently took to Instagram to proclaim his love of vintage cookery.
"Crab stuffed tomatoes from La Cuisine Créole circa 1903… Why change a good thing?” he wrote alongside a tempting photo of the dish, which looks like perfect cocktail party fare.
Besh representatives confirmed that the starter is indeed adapted from a recipe for “Devilled Crabs” [sic] from the 1903 tome Cooking in Old Créole Days: La Cuisine Créole à l’Usage des Petits Ménages. Its author, Célestine Eustis, was a Paris-born New Orleans resident from a prominent family who wrote the book while in her late sixties. And according to food historian Lynn Nelson, she knew her stuff: Cooking in Old Créole Days is “an excellent overview of Creole cooking in and around New Orleans at the beginning of the 20th century,” Nelson writes on her site.
Besh’s version of the dish—which appears in his 2009 cookbook, My New Orleans—calls for stuffing tomatoes with a rich, mayonnaise-laced mixture of jumbo lump crabmeat, fresh basil, lemon juice, and a plenitude of Creole spices including celery salt, sweet paprika, cayenne pepper, and allspice.
At your next cocktail party, consider giving your standard deviled egg number a rest and trying out this throwback instead. Here’s the recipe:
Crabmeat-Stuffed Tomatoes
by John Besh, adapted from Cooking in Old Créole Days by Célestine Eustis
Serves 6
If you don’t have the time or the inclination to peel the tomatoes, use the juiciest tomatoes you can find, slice and season them, top with the crabmeat and basil, and enjoy.
6 ripe medium to large Creole or other ripe tomatoes
Salt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 small branch fresh basil leaves, 6 small leaves reserved for garnish, the rest finely chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 cups jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over
Basic Creole Spices (see below)
3 to 6 chive or garlic chive blossoms, optional
1. To peel the tomatoes, bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Core the tomatoes, then score the bottoms by making a small X in each. Blanch 3 tomatoes at a time for exactly 5 seconds per batch, moving them around with a pair of tongs or a slotted spoon. Transfer the tomatoes, cored side down, to paper towels to let drain and cool briefly, then peel off the skin and discard.
2. Using a teaspoon and starting at the core, carefully scoop out the center of the tomatoes, creating a bowl. Cut off bottom third of the tomatoes and set aside (you’ll use them as lids to top the stuffed tomatoes). Season the tomatoes with a little salt.
3. Mix the mayonnaise, chopped basil, lemon juice, and mustard together in a medium bowl. Add the crab, stirring gently so as not to break up the meat. Season the crab salad with Creole Spices and salt. Stuff the tomatoes with the crab salad, add a basil leaf or two, and chive blossoms, if using. Set a tomato lid on top of each one.
Basic Creole Spices
Makes 1/2 Cup
Using this spice blend is truly the easiest way to consistently achieve the flavors I grew up with. Once made, the spices with last for six months in an airtight container.
1 Tbsp. celery salt
1 Tbsp. sweet paprika
1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
1 Tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. onion powder
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
Mix together the celery salt, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne and allspice in a bowl. Transfer the spices to a clean container with a tight-fitting lid, cover, and store.
From My New Orleans: The Cookbook by John Besh/Andrews McMeel Publishing
More throwback recipes:
Throwback Thursday: Pecan Pralines
Throwback Thursday: Coq au Vin
Throwback Thursday: The Whiskey Sour
What’s your favorite recipe from yesteryear? Tell us in the comments!
