Seasonal speciality with endless variety of uses

Chef/proprietor of Gordon’s Restaurant in Inverkeilor, Garry Watson has been savouring the delights of brown crab

Brown crab are crustaceans like lobster, langoustine and scallops. They are in season and best to be found in the cold, clear and pure waters of Scotland.

At the restaurant I buy live crab to ensure maximum freshness and also to make amazing stock for crab bisque. If buying whole crab it should be live and fresh, with no hint of ammonia, then killed humanely by

PREPARING CRAB

If you are preparing whole cooked crab yourself, remove the claws then tap with a small hammer and pick out the white meat with a skewer. Take care to remove the pale belly shell and discard the “dead man’s fingers” which are the gills found around the edge of the centre and look like small feathery ferns. Scrape out the meat from the body keeping brown and white meat separate.

If you are careful to keep the main part of the crab intact, you can wash it thoroughly and place the prepared meat back into it. You would normally identify the presentation as a dressed crab.

There are a multitude of ways to enjoy this most versatile seafood in pasta, salads, fish cakes, with chilli and so on. White crab meat (from the claws) rivals, or exceeds, lobster for flavour and succulence and needs very little fiddling with to create masterful dishes such as a crab and avocado salad. piercing the main nerves located just behind their eyes. Then plunge it into boiling salted water and allow a cooking time of 15 minutes per 500g, remove and cool ready to prepare.

However, whole cooked crabs or fresh crab meat bought from a fishmonger are perfectly adequate

alternatives and save labour. Keep refrigerated.

GET CREATIVE WITH CRAB

Place around 250g of white crab meat in a bowl and check with a fork for any flecks of shell which can be irritating to bite on in the middle of a dream dish. Mix in a few tablespoons of fresh mayonnaise, juice of half a lime, a splash of Tabasco hot pepper sauce and season with sea salt. Serve with a simple rocket salad with avocado, pink grapefruit segments and crisp breads.

To prepare a light hot starter or small canapes using the same white crab salad mixture try these delicious spring rolls.

Add 100g of cooked sweetcorn, 1tbsp chopped fresh basil and 1tbsp chopped coriander. Spoon about a 2tbsp of the crab mixture on a sheet of egg-washed filo pastry and roll into neat spring rolls, then chill for 30 minutes. Deep fry until golden brown. Serve with sweet chilli vinaigrette as a dipping sauce and a little salad.

Top, fresh cooked brown crab with lemon; and spring roll with crab, sauce and vegetables.