Eating invasives: Sustainability and indulgence unite at Swyft for Green Crab Week

KENT — Kent’s New American tavern Swyft had an unusual addition to its menu of locally-sourced, elevated fare last week – the European green crab, an invasive crustacean that has wreaked havoc on New England’s fisheries and coastal ecosystems, but which also happens to be very tasty.

“People just don’t know that they’re delicious,” Executive Chef Ryan Carbone said during a moment of respite between the Friday, June 27, lunch and dinner rushes. “They can be eaten and we can do our part to control the population to a degree.”

What brought this unlikely ingredient into Swyft’s kitchen was an initiative called Green Crab Week, which took place from June 20-29. The yearly event is an exposition in which gastronome-meets-sustainability nonprofit GreenCrab.Org partners with restaurants, fishmongers, fisherman and other seafood-oriented organizations to demonstrate the culinary versatility of this small but ecologically devastating crab.

Native to the eastern North Atlantic, the green crab was introduced to New England waters in the early 19th century, likely brought over in the ballasts of European merchant ships. Since then, it has established itself along the coast from South Carolina to Newfoundland, severely impacting eelgrass habitat and shellfish populations throughout its new range. It has also found a footing on North America’s west coast, Australia and South Africa, and is expected to push even further afield as climate change alters ocean temperatures and ecosystems.

Swyft was one of three Connecticut restaurants — and the only in the interior — to participate in Green Crab Week out of more than 75 businesses along the East Coast. Other partnering establishments were BLDG, in New Haven, and The Shipwright’s Daughter in Mystic. Oakville, Connecticut’s seafood purveyor To The Gills also joined in.

Carbone said David Standridge, founder and executive chef at the sustainable seafood-focused Shipwright’s Daughter, embraced the green crab at his restaurant early on. Carbone cited Standridge, alongside a Boston-based fish wholesaler he uses called Wulf’s Fish that regularly stocks the crab, as his inspiration for taking part in this year’s Green Crab Week.

“I just wanted to do our part in the Northwest Corner,” he said.

While it’s Swyft’s first foray into Green Crab Week, Carbone affirmed that sustainability and environmental consciousness fit firmly into the restaurant’s ethos, which it shares with its hyperlocal tasting-menu restaurant next door, Ore Hill. Protecting the land that provides the food, and the livelihoods of those who harvest it, is central to a responsible and respectful chef’s mission, he said.

And when it comes to seafood, it’s personal: “It’s my favorite thing to cook. It’s my favorite thing to eat. And all the things we love to eat in New England — the lobsters, the clams, what have you —are affected by this green crab population.”

Carbone said he hopes a sustaining green crab fishery develops in the region, not only to keep their numbers in check but also because they’re simply a great addition to the kitchen.

For Swyft’s crab week menu, Carbone opted to make a stock to act as a risotto base – a method which uses the entire animal and doesn’t require the wasteful and time-consuming process of picking meat from the small crustaceans.

Carbone’s stock crushed the meat and shells together in a boil flavored with aromatics like onion and garlic alongside “a couple kinds of seaweed to reinforce that ocean flavor.”

The result was a “really, really aromatic, flavorful stock” that was used to cook the risotto that would be deep fried into arancini for an appetizer or shared plate. The fried risotto balls were served on a bed of seaweed aioli and vinegar-chili dressed napa cabbage sourced from the Ore Hill & Swyft-owned Rock Cobble Farm just several miles down the road in South Kent.

The experience wasn’t only gastronomic — servers chatted with guests about the species and GreenCrab.Org’s work. At the meal’s end, informational cards prepared by the nonprofit were dropped with the bill so that diners returned home with more than just a sated palate.

While Green Crab Week is over, Carbone said his time with the invasive has just begun: “It’s a versatile ingredient, and I’m really excited to dig in after this week and start to use it and incorporate it into more of my food.”