Tampa man carries on deviled crab tradition inspired by Ybor City immigrants

TAMPA, Fla. - Just how many deviled crabs has Pappy Derose rolled in his lifetime?

"I can’t even guess," he laughed.

After immigrating from the Bahamas more than 30 years ago, he started making deviled crabs at an Ybor city restaurant.

He's been doing it ever since.

"I always wanted to make it big, make a lot of deviled crabs. That was the plan a long time ago," he recalled.

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Now, through his own restaurant and catering business, Pappy carries on a legacy that started over one hundred years ago.

University of South Florida historian Gary Mormino says the deviled crab emerged in the early 20th century, likely because of Ybor city's immigrant influence.

"The croquette from Spain and crabs in Cuba, and you know, human ingenuity! Who doesn’t like the sweetness of crab meat with the deep-fried flavor?" he asked.

Mormino says the cheap street snack may have thrived during employee strikes in Ybor's large cigar-making industry.

"You literally had soup kitchens, but the deviled crab was also an ingenious idea to feed the cigar workers," he stated.

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The popularity of deviled crabs also paved the way for savvy businessmen in Ybor City.

"The most famous salesman of deviled crab was Miranda. Miranda had a little motorcycle with a sidecar, and it said Miranda’s Crabs," Mormino stated.

Miranda would sell them around Ybor City and actually put several kids through college selling deviled crabs.

But Mormino says it's hard to know the exact origin story of the deviled crab.

"No one was there with a tape recorder or notebook," he commented

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Now, the Tampa tradition continues and is passed on through Pappy Derose and his family.

"Being the younger generation, it feels great to reintroduce a food item that’s been around for a long time and people love it," says Frantz, Pappy's son.

And if you're wondering if it's "devil" or "deviled" crab, they're sort of both right.

Lore has it that once upon a time, someone ate one and said it was "hot as the devil" and the name stuck. But through the years it's kind of morphed into "deviled" crab.

Pappy's Island Crew Restaurant is on East Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa.