For the next few posts we're going to take a tour of the dishes featured in our new digital cookbook - All About Apples. Writing about food is like dancing about architecture. Words can't really describe how something tastes. But that didn't stop us from trying. Before each recipe we try to describe how the dish should end up.

Dungeness Crab wrapped in Red Delicious Apples. When you serve a meal with eight courses, first impressions count. When you’re done eating the first course, your mind should be racing with the possibilities of what might show up in the next seven dishes. Making a strong impression requires restraint on the part of the chef. Too large a quantity, or flavors that are too strong, could narrow your palate and make the rest of the meal drudgery. Lampreia’s Dungeness Crab wrapped in Red Delicious Apples strikes the perfect fragile balance. Think crab cannelloni. The flavor of the crab filling is soft and detailed and almost sweet. And in that context the paper-thin apple wrapper is almost salty. But after a moment the apple is slightly sour and a different kind of sweet than the crab. The apple wrapper is super thin and wrapped tight tight tight. The crab meat has flaked into small pieces and it ends up as a creamy center with the homemade mayo. It would be wrong to call the large pieces of crab on the side “garnishes”. They’re too generous for that. The slight amount of extra virgin olive oil drizzled across the dish gives a warm base flavor for all the other ingredients. The olive oil and the apple literally and figuratively wrap the crab in flavor. Tasting these subtle flavors is like going to the country and seeing stars you couldn’t see in the city with all the city streetlights competing for your eyes’ attention. Your mouth and your imagination are now attentive and alert. Your palate is clear and ready for what’s next.