"As with many myths about the founding fathers and their supposed culinary preferences, the rumor has legs, but the truth is as murky, and slippery, as the brackish water from whence the miniature crabs come. While there aren't any reliable primary sources that prove his proclivities, the creature at the center of the tale is definitely real, and worth examining."
"Sometimes called the "redneck's toothpick," pea crabs are tender eating, with the mild meatiness of a miniature soft-shell crab. Early American diners treated them like deep-sea treasure, with a 1907 New York Times article on the creatures describing them vividly, almost lovingly, as, "one of the sweetest and quaintest viands known to man ... with all the sweetness and delicate salt savors of the entire crab family concentrated in its tiny body," and offered preparations such as crabs sautéed in butter and wine,"
Pea crabs are diminutive, soft-bodied kleptoparasitic crustaceans that live rent-free inside oysters. Rumors link George Washington to eating pea crabs, but no reliable primary sources confirm his preference. The crabs are tender, with a mild meatiness comparable to miniature soft-shell crab. Early American diners prized them and a 1907 New York Times described them as exceptionally sweet and delicate. Common preparations included sautéing in butter and wine, frying like whitebait, or serving under pink-tinted mayonnaise. Edwardian cookbooks called for dozens of pea crabs to be collected and molded into ornate culinary centerpieces.
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