The time approaches for the first full moon of May and in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland and Virginia that means the Blue Crab/ Soft Shelled Crab Season. This delicacy is available fresh from May thru July from this region. The blue crab from this area is considered the best in the world. The Gulf coastal regions of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida also have a soft shelled crab season from April thru October, but the crabs hailed from the Chesapeake Bay offer a sweeter flavor of the meat. The crab becomes soft shelled when the molting season begins. The hard outer shell is shed exposing a soft under shell that renders a totally edible crab, claws, body and all. The color of the crab is a luminous blue and that is where the blue crab name comes in. They are best if you can purchase fresh and cook within days of purchase although there are frozen products available. Cleaning them is easy, but not for the faint of heart, as you will see from the video from Chef Mark Bitman. The flavor is sweet crab and methods for cooking them are battered or fried. The soft-shelled crab is not a crab you would boil the meat would fall apart.