A Post-Thanksgiving Crab Crack

As much as they love turkey and all the trimmings, cookbook authors Matt Lee and Ted Lee invite you to try their favorite holiday tradition: a Lowcountry crab party with friends.

“There’s not a better time to be cooking in the South. Crabs are large, oysters are back in season, and there’s a last harvest of warm-weather crops,” Matt Lee says.

Photographer Tara Sgroi, Writer Julia Rutland

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Harvest Celebration

It’s late November in the Lowcountry. A briny ocean aroma always fills the air, but it’s tempered now with an earthy fragrance of fallen leaves. The trees aren’t all bare, though―live oak leaves still cling to branches, and steadfast marsh grasses blush gold and crimson. “Fall is the best time of year for food,” says Matt Lee, coauthor with brother Ted of The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook and The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern. “There’s not a better time to be cooking in the South. Crabs are large, oysters are back in season, and there’s a last harvest of warm-weather crops.”