Moeche: what they are, how they are eaten and where

A delicacy, a must try when passing through Venice. Those who live there are lucky enough to find them in season, even under the house, in the characteristic bacari. In the Venetian dialect they are called moeche which literally means “soft”. And in fact the softness is their peculiarity that makes them a product so rare and precious that it costs a lot: from 50 to 70 euros per kg. Outside the lagoon, they are found only in the best fishmongers in the city.

The moeche are none other than small crabs which – in autumn and spring – go through the moulting phase, becoming tender and delicious.

In specific weeks of the year (usually between April and May and October and November), they abandon their carapace waiting for the biological process to create a new, larger and stronger armor. And it is precisely at this moment that moeche, as such, are fished through an ancient process, unique in Italy, protected by the Slow Food Ark of Taste and which is worth explaining.

THE TRADITION OF MOECHE
Fishing and breeding of moeche, which today is concentrated close to theGiudecca Island, of Chioggia and of Burano, takes place thanks to the work of the so-called moecanti, officially recognized by the doges of the Republic of the Serenissima. This work, handed down for centuries from father to son, consists in capturing crabs through special fixed gillnets, positioned in the shallow lagoon bottoms; we then move on to a careful selection to test the most experienced moecanti: the crabs good – ready to moult in a short time – they are selected together with spiantani (i.e. those that will change within a couple of days), while the so-called crabs checkmate (that is, which by now have a formed carapace) are thrown back into the sea. Subsequently the moecanti separate the good give it spiantani placing them in special wooden containers, before immersing them in the lagoon waters to complete the last ring of the supply chain: at this point we move on to the control operations during which we are finally preparing to take the moeche, eliminate the dead specimens and, finally , to transfer the crabs good which, gradually, become spiantani.

HOW TO EAT THEM
Moeche must be eaten whole, complete with head and legs: eaten a few hours after fishing (maximum one day), they must be bought alive and kept in the fridge. Wanting to follow the integralist recipe – that of moeche cabbage pien – once rinsed they must be placed in a container in which a beaten egg has been placed which they will eat, becoming even softer and tastier. Then the frying, which is usually accompanied by the typical white Venetian polenta. Although the crunchy variant is the best known and prepared in restaurants, in the aforementioned bacari or in a street food version for gourmands discarded for walking, moeche are also excellent boiled and seasoned with oil, garlic and parsley. Especially if it’s the masanete, that is the female crabs that are recognized by the folded abdomen in the shape of a heart. They are preferably consumed in late summer.

WHERE TO EAT THEM
Some addresses to write down: Trattoria Al Gatto Nero in Burano; Ostaria From Rioba to Fondamenta de la Misericordia; Star Anise at Fondamenta de la Sensa, Cannaregio; Bacareto from Lele to Santa Croce 183, Campo dei Tolentini; From Fiore to San Marco, 3461 calle de le Botteghe; Cantina do Spade, in San Polo, 859. Instead, a true Venetian chef such as Daniel Canzian, owner of the restaurant of the same name in Milan, has revisited them in a contemporary key. Instead of fried cabbage pien, prepares them in tempura skipping the passage of the egg (the recipe in the gallery). They are lighter and equally tasty, what does not change is the pleasure of pairing with ‘bubbles’: an important Prosecco to stay in the territory but also with a Franciacorta or a Trento Doc it is not wrong.

Browse the recipe in our gallery