The Richest Meal by Andrea McKay



The Richest Meal by Andrea McKay 

 I remember the first time me and my eight siblings first ate crab. None of us
knew how it would taste and we all thought it would be horrible; however, it is one
of the most delicious foods I have ever tasted in my life. In fact, I remember the day
I first tasted it. I was about nine years old at the time and I was at home with my
family. My mom had decided that she wanted to eat crab for dinner, so she had gone
out to pick some up. Once she brought it home, she put it in the oven and let it cook
for a little bit. She then put it on the table once it was done. She called for everyone
in the house and she said “I want to show you guys something.” Everyone in the
house, including my dad came in the room and sat down. From the look on my dad’s
face, I could tell he knew what was under the tinfoil wrap. Once my mom
unwrapped the mystery dish from the aluminum foil, I looked up at my dad and his
eyes lit up.
 I then turned my head toward the dish. It was filled with long crab legs that
had claws at the end of them. The legs were all dry and spikey, not to mention hard.
I touched one to feel it and it felt so dry and sandpapery. I was disgusted. I thought
to myself “I don’t want to eat that. It’s way too hard for me to chew.” All of us kids McKay 2
were looking at each other wondering how we were going to eat our dinner that was
hard as a rock.
 My dad saw the looks on our faces and he said “You don’t have to eat the
shell. You just break the shell off and eat what’s inside.” Then he took a hammer
and started hammering the crab legs. The crab’s hard shell cracked open and a
cloud of steam floated out of the leg. The steam carried an aroma of seafood
deliciousness with it. Then my dad took the cracked shell off and all that was left
was little white pillows of meat. Dad then took some butter and showed us how to
butter the crab. The butter just ran down the light colored meat and made it smell
and look even more scrumptious. My mom spiced it up with salt and other
seasonings after it was buttered.
Once it was prepared, I just couldn’t wait much longer. I couldn’t believe how
something that looked so disgusting at first could turn out to look so good. Now it
wasn’t just my dad’s eyes that lit up, all of the kids’ faces shined. Everyone in the
room rushed to get a plate. Once we all were dished up, everyone took their fork and
got a piece of the sea creature. When I placed the piece of meat in my mouth, I could
taste it right away. I felt the hot butter from the crab steam my tongue. Even the
feeling of the soft crab meat being pressed against my teeth was so wonderful. My
taste buds tingled with a new flavor that I had never experienced before. The dinner
was so tempting and I just had to have more. I just dug into the heavenly meal
along with the rest of my family. McKay 3
Crab is by far the most delicious food I have ever tasted. It wasn’t just the
taste that made it so rich; it’s the fact that we as a family all sat down together
tasting and discovering something new. Now whenever anyone in my family sees
crab or anything that involves it, we think of the time we first ate it all together at
our dinner table.