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Here's how to make the JW Marriott's take on Tampa's famous deviled crab

The recipe comes from Visit Tampa Bay's new book, 'Tampa’s Table: A Culinary Evolution.'

By Suzanne Townsend on Mon, Jan 29, 2024 at 3:29 pm

Photo by Amy Pezzicara c/o Visit Tampa Bay

Six (stylized “SiX”) at JW Marriott’s deviled crab cakes recipe, are a fusion of the Cuban deviled crab croquettes and Maryland’s traditional crab cakes.

No Tampa table is complete without the quintessential deviled crab which was first made popular with the city’s Cuban community. Thanks to a new book released this month, those ready to don their chef hats can make Six (stylized “SiX”) at JW Marriott’s deviled crab cakes recipe, a fusion of the Cuban deviled crab croquettes and Maryland’s traditional crab cakes.

The instructions come from a collection of Tampa recipes in “Tampa’s Table: A Culinary Evolution.” It is the second volume of Visit Tampa Bay’s cookbook and features 52 Tampa restaurants and 54 different recipes interlaced with flavorful narratives of Tampa’s history and its gastronomic culture.

The Bay area’s fishing communities offer recipes like shrimp and grits (Datz) and cobia collar (Rooster & the Till) while its Latin communities showcase paella (Columbia) and street corn, while each dish is imbued with cultural history. Other local staples in the collection include La Segunda's Palomilla steak, Ulele's okra fries, Boulon Brasserie's Best of the Bay-winning crab beignets, and Alessi's Italian wedding cookies.

“Tampa’s Table Volume 2 is a culinary voyage that goes beyond a traditional cookbook. It creatively displays the diverse flavors of Tampa Bay, inviting you to explore our rich history and vibrant culture through each recipe,” Santiago C. Corrada, President & CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, wrote in a press release.

In addition to the cookbook Visit Tampa Bay has released a podcast titled “Tampa’s Table: A Culinary Journey,” which features guests from restaurants around the city including Roberto Torres from Blind Tiger Coffee Roasters and Michelin Star recipient Rocca’s Bryce Bonsack.

The cookbook can be purchased at Visit Tampa Bay’s visitor center at 201 N Franklin St, Tampa and visittampabay.com. See the Six's crab cake recipe below.

Slideshow

Breaking bread: A culinary history of Tampa in 10 meals

Tampa Bay Hotel opens, 1891When tycoon Henry Plant brought his railroad to Tampa in 1884, he found a pathetic hardscrabble town of 700 people. But in the years after the railroad connection, Tampa’s elite clamored for Plant to open a luxury hotel in his latest terminus. On Feb. 5, 1891, Plant’s Tampa Bay Hotel opened with a grand ball. At 9 that evening, the capacity crowd enjoyed an opera. Then Mayor Herman Glogowski led a grand procession to the dining room for a reception and dancing. At 11, a buffet offered oysters, fish, cold roasts, salad and desserts. The party didn’t wind down until 1 a.m.; the guests slept on couches and chairs in the lobby, as the bedrooms had not yet been furnished.The Tampa Bay Hotel frequently made headlines, especially during the Spanish-American war when journalists and generals commiserated from the veranda’s rocking chairs. The kitchen served up lavish meals with menus written entirely in mangled French. But with a short tourist season of just four months, the hotel never really flourished. The old Tampa Bay Hotel is now home to the University of Tampa and the Henry Plant museum.Photo via Burgert Brothers/USF

Ybor City’s first Christmas Eve, 1886Having just moved his factories to Tampa, cigar factory owner Vicente Martinez Ybor feared his restive workers would slip back to Key West or Cuba for the holidays and never return. So he and his wife acted fast: They invited workers and their families for a Christmas Eve (or Noche Buena) feast at his mansion amid the swamps and sand. There was a Christmas surprise: As a sign of gratitude, Ybor divided the profits between his workers, $6,000 in all, or about a month’s wages per worker. Ybor’s gesture won his employees’ confidence, and Cigar City survived to delight and vex generations of Tampans and tourists.Photo via Burgert Brothers/USF

Jose Marti poisoned, 1893Jose Marti—poet, politician and martyr of Cuban independence—visited Tampa on about 17 occasions. He gave enthralling speeches, raised funds for the Cuban insurrection against Spain and almost got himself killed here in 1893. One night, Spanish secret agents bribed Marti’s bodyguards and poisoned his drink (some say tea, others insist it was gin). When the would-be Spanish assassins were discovered, they begged an ill Marti for forgiveness, which he gave. Marti recovered at the home of Paulina Pedroso (on Eighth Avenue and 13th Street), a sympathetic Afro-Cuban. In 1895, Marti landed in Cuba to join the insurrection, where he promptly died in battle. He left a great literary canon and a newborn nation behind.A later owner of the Pedroso home deeded the land to the Cuban government in the 1950s, and it became Marti Park. Years later, the vandalizing of the striking Marti sculpture kicked off a proud Ybor tradition of statue desecration and theft.Photo by Dave Decker

Strike Street soup, 1920Unlike most Floridians, the immigrants of Ybor City and West Tampa (Sevilla building c.1923, pictured here) were not sheepish about unionizing and making demands of their employers. Unions managed to score a few victories in the early years, but they did not continue. When the cigar industry originally settled in Tampa, it did so with the knowledge that the city had agreed to lend its police force to the factory owners when labor troubles arose. During the strike of 1920, determined workers endured for 10 months outside the factories. The Tampa Tribune, at the time a zealous anti-labor advocate, raised the specter of “over-paid and corn-fed agitators [who] intend to absolutely annihilate the cigar industry in this city.” Labor newspaper El International fired back, saying that the pampered factory owners “Don’t know the anarchist-breeding effect of hunger on the victim ... champagne and caviar have always been at their service.”In 1920, the producers stood firm against the strike, and employed the police and vigilantes to ransack the soup kitchens. They threw the food into the manure-laden streets. The destruction of soup kitchens dealt the union a deadly blow. Before long, even the most fanatical strikers began to cave. The strike ended in February 1921 with $12 million in wages lost. The unions never fully recovered from the debacle.Photo via Burgert Brothers/USF

Christmas dinner, MacDill Field, 1941Tampa was already home to important military installations when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The war led to construction of three air bases around the city: Drew Field, MacDill Air Force Base and Henderson Field, the remains of which lie beside the University of South Florida and the Yuengling Brewery (Mel’s Hot Dogs is its last remaining building).The armed forces tried to make Christmas as pleasant as possible for recruits. The three airfields held a huge holiday feast for servicemen and their guests with white tablecloths and Christmas trees. The soldiers returned to the mess twice that day “on a basis of catch as catch can, no holds barred,” the Tribune observed. But the meal was marred by bad war news all over the world, and the holiday meals to follow would be less extravagant. Two years later, the commissaries cut the Christmas dinner luxuries found on the 1941 menu, such as ham, tomatoes, nuts, buttered peas, even pumpkin pie and lemonade. The ongoing war justified unprecedented military spending, especially in the southern U.S. Tampa has benefited from military spending ever since.Robertson and Fresh (Firm) and University of South Florida — Tampa Campus Library, "338 Ordnance Company - 52 Ordnance - BN - (AUN) - MacDill Field - Florida - February 27th 1941" (1941). Robertson and Fresh Collection of Tampa Photographs. Image 145.

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SiX at the JW Tampa Marriott Water Street
Deviled Crab Cakes with Six Aioli, Frisee Salad, Grilled Lemon and Crispy Tortilla Strips
510 Water St, Tampa, FL 33602

Prep Time: 60 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
Crab Cakes
4 large eggs
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp cumin
2 tsps salt
2 cups red peppers, diced
2 cups green peppers, diced
1 cup cilantro, chopped
4 cups panko
4 lump crab
2 tbsps of vegetable oil
Salt to taste

SiX Aioli
3 cups mayonnaise
1 cup sriracha
3 tbsp freshly minced garlic
3 tsps dry granulated garlic
3 tsps dry cayenne

Tortilla Strips
12 corn tortillas
2 cups vegetable oil for frying
Salt to taste

Frisee Salad
1 small head frisée, trimmed and washed
1 small red onion, Julienned
½ tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Grilled Lemons
3 lemons

Preparation:
For the Crab Cakes
Mix eggs, tomato paste, mayo, Dijon, spices, salt, peppers, and cilantro and whisk until well combined. Fold in crab and panko gently until well combined. Portion with 2 oz ice cream scoop in a metal sheet tray, leaving some space in between the crab cakes. Use another same size metal tray to press down the crab cakes. Press crab cakes gently and lightly to achieve a nice, flat, round shape. Heat a sauté pan on medium low heat with vegetable oil. Sprinkle the crab cakes with salt and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove from heat and let them rest in a plate or pan with a dry paper towel.

For the Six Aioli
Mix all ingredients until well combined.

For the Tortilla Strips
Julienne cut tortillas lengthwise. Use a small deep sauce pot to fry the tortilla strips. Fry at 325°F. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt.

For the Frisee Salad
In a small mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and gently fold.

For the Grilled Lemons
Trim ends of the lemons, then cut in half, crosswise. On a hot grill or flat top, sear the lemons until they’re nicely charred, about four minutes.

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About The Author

Suzanne Townsend

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Email Suzanne Townsend

Suzanne Townsend is a senior at the University of South Florida, dual majoring in Digital Communications and Multimedia Journalism, plus art history. She’s also Arts & Life editor at the Crow’s Nest, the student newspaper at USF’s St. Pete Campus. She graduates in May 2024.

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