Take all the meat from a fresh crab, a good sized one or two if small, the body only. A few breadcrumbs may be added if not sufficient. Put it into a mortar. Add some pepper, salt, oil and lemon juice and pound it all well together. Break away most of the inside of the shell. Wash it well and polish it. Then take the pounded mixture and make a bridge across the centre of the shell. Shred all the meat from the claws very fine and fill up each end of the shell with the meat. Lay a little parsley and coralline pepper on the bridge. Put some of the claws on a dish and lay the shell on them so it appears natural.
Modern version: It’s pretty much just a dressed crab – no separation of the white and brown meats here, just smash them all together. One imagines the polishing of the shell and the construction are everything. Delia has instructions on how to dress a British crab – they differ a bit from many of the US species, but a Dungeness Crab from the west coast is a pretty similar beast. Corraline pepper is still a bit of a mystery at present.
