Lili's
Devil Crab
A venerable Tampa tradition updated
Apparently the term “devil
crab” is decidedly Tampa, Florida and its immigrant
cigar factory village, Ybor City. Ybor was developed
in 1886 by cigar factory owner Vicente Ybor, a Cuban,
from 40 acres of swamp near Tampa. At its height 140
cigar factories turned out over 250 million cigars
a year and Ybor City was known as the Cigar Capitol
of the World—its workers came from Cuba, Sicily,
Spain, and Germany.
Now anything that is “deviled”
has been minced and tossed together with seasonings,
often hot but possibly savory as well. ( Think deviled
eggs.) Long associated with Tampa, the devil crab
started out as a small croquette, the kind still served
in local taverns as an appetizer. Its larger, plump
crescent of a cousin may have developed from a need
to waste nothing of one's food. According to entries
archived at Chowhound, during the labor turbulent
1920's, the lively immigrant community stretched what
they had to feed many mouths. Leftover Cuban bread,
combined with the not so perfect bits from the crab,
plus the everyday Cuban enchilada sauce, went into
the deep-fried devil crab. Many were sold from street
vendors in both Tampa and Ybor City. It may also be
that during the prolonged workers' strikes in Ybor
people began to catch their own crab and make up a
hearty portable food they could eat anywhere.
The Depression, the destruction of
the major workers' union, the rise of machine-rolled
cigars, all played a role in ending the vibrant community
that was Ybor--”urban renewal” did the
rest. But now the area is on the rise again as a tourism
center.
And entrepreneurs like Cuban-born
Lili Peguero are dedicated to bringing back the Tampa
area's roadside devil crab business, updated with
a 21st century twist.
Lili is buying Indian-made three
wheel vending scooters, outfitting them with fryers,
and training newly arrived Cuban immigrants to make
and sell devil crabs, empanadas, meat-stuffed potatoes
and more
.
Her aim is to sell franchises of
Lili's World Famous Homemade Devil Crabs at $15,000
a pop. The devil crabs themselves, selling at $3 apiece
hot out of the fryer, are created from Lili's Mom's
recipes. Marvelously moist, and just the right amount
of spices and tomato flavor.
( For a visit with Lili, please see
The
FOOD Museum Blog entry for February 10 here.)
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