("Louie Louie") - Grab your woman, it's "Louie Louie" time!

- [Knute] Washington state's unofficial theme song is "Louie Louie," the early 1960s rock hit made famous by many Northwest bands.

The lyrics they sang were almost unintelligible.

* Louie, Louie, oh, hey - But something else is also hard to figure out.

Who invented the Northwest seafood salad everyone loves?

Who invented Crab Louie?

Or should it be Crab Louie Louie?

(dignified string music) (whimsical music) The origins of Crab Louie turn out to be muddy and contested.

It is widely served all over the country.

It was very popular and considered a kind of cocktail-era luxury for those who eschewed big steaks.

it was served in seafood diners and fancy hotels And some unlikely and elegant places have made claims to be Louie originators, like Spokane's elegant Davenport Hotel, where I'm ensconced right now.

(dignified music) The salad's origins appear to have been on the West Coast.

And that makes sense, because in the late 19th century, we had an abundance of fresh crab.

San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland served crab on menus dating back to the 19th century.

The Northwest had a secret weapon, Dungeness crab.

Captain George Vancouver named Dungeness Spit, a miles-long, curving sand spit that extends into the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Washington, because it reminded him of Dungeness back in England.

When his expedition landed in nearby Discovery Bay in 1792, they hauled in fish and crab for the crew.

What the Dungeness Spit area had was an abundance of sweet, tasty crab that was the best eating.

Dungeness crab thrived from Northern California to Alaska.

It became a commercial hit.

And as access to fresh crab expanded in the late 19th century, with rail refrigeration and road systems to spread it around, more and more people could eat fresh crab without fear of food poisoning.

Bad crab could kill, a fact newspaper stories widely advertised.

Fresh produce became more widely available, too, like lettuce.

in the 1800s, a crab salad might be crab, fresh or canned, mixed with mayonnaise.

But in the early 20th century, crab with lettuce and other veggies and ingredients was a splendid novelty for the swells.

Healthy, too.

By the 1930s, Crab Louie had become very popular in Seattle.

An article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer back then declared, quote, "A trip to Seattle without a feast of crab a la Louis is like Paris without the Eiffel Tower."

Its first appearance in a Northwest cookbook dates to 1912 and the Portland Council of Jewish Women's "Neighborhood Cook Book."

It calls for lettuce, two hard-boiled eggs, and shredded crab meat.

But the key is the Louie dressing, not just plain mayo, but a zesty and often pink concoction.

Success has a thousand fathers and mothers, so the invention of Louie is disputed.

One version says that Italian tenor Enrico Caruso came to Seattle in 1904 and ate Crab Louie at the Olympic Club or Olympic Hotel and became insatiable for it.

The only problem with that story is that the inimitable Caruso never performed in Seattle.

Though he was going to be invited to open the Moore Theatre, which, alas, wasn't finished in time for him to accept.

He was in San Francisco, however, during the 1906 quake, which he fled unharmed.

San Francisco was an early adopter of Louie.

The Old French Poodle Dog restaurant in 1908 is said to have named Louie dressing after its chef, Louis Coutard.

The restaurant was also decorated in Louis XIV style.

Perhaps that was a reference, too.

The Coutard dressing lacks the familiar ketchup, but includes Dijon mustard, champagne vinegar, chives, olive oil, tarragon, and shallots.

Another San Francisco restaurant, Solari's, also laid claim to inventing Crab Louie.

Famed chef James Beard grew up eating Crab Louie in his hometown of Portland, Oregon.

He said he first encountered it at a fine-dining establishment called the Bohemian.

Portland, he believed, was the origin of Louie dressing.

In the 1920s, the Bohemian boasted of its famous Crab Louie.

Beard recreated the Bohemian's recipe in the 1980s, saying, "The dressing is what makes the dish."

His modernized version called for homemade mayo, an equal part yogurt, chili sauce, grated onion, a dash of Tabasco sauce, and some whipped cream.

Oh, and as much crab as your generosity could afford.

(lively classical music) Louie is still a signature dish for some establishments, even ones far removed from the coast.

(lively jazz music) At the historic Davenport Hotel in Spokane, for example.

it appeared on the menu the year it opened in 1914, and is there still, named, it is said, for the hotel's owner, Llewellyn "Louis" Davenport.

Their salad includes fresh Dungeness crab, ripe tomato and lemon wedges, and hard-boiled eggs.

Well, you know what I like about it?

It looks like a crab.

- [Tom] Exactly what we're looking for.

- I gotta ask you, what's in the Louie dressing?

- Unfortunately, that's a Davenport secret, so... - Ah!

Still, you get the idea.

Put your own twist on Louie dressing, toss it, chill, and serve.

In the Northwest, for the last century, at least, it's always "Louie Louie" time.

- [Announcer] "Mossback's Northwest" is made possible by the generous support of Bedrooms & More.