I think Blue Crab — harvested along the Atlantic Coast from Nova Scotia to Argentina — is considered the sweetest. That said, people on the West Coast from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska to Santa Cruz, California, consider the Dungeness crab a delicacy with size it’s most prized attribute. In fact, its binomial name, Cancer magister, translates from Latin to “master crab” in English.

All crabs are high in protein and minerals and low in fat. Over 20% of the world’s crustaceans that are caught are crabs.

Of course, once you get a crab before you, there are parts that are considered sweeter than others…

~Lump is from the largest pieces of meat from the body, adjacent to the backfin. It is the most expensive form of crabmeat.

~Backfin is the white body meat including lump and large flakes. It is used for crab cakes and crab imperial.

~Special are flakes of white body meat other than lump. It is good for crab cakes, soups, casseroles and dips.

~Claw meat is brownish meat from the claws. This is best for soups and dips. It is the least expensive type of crab meat.