I shall never, EVER again complain about the price of Crabmeat!!

[tim]

No2 + her lot came back from Looe this pm - brought Crabs & Lobsters - caught this am.

So this is the meat you get from a £5.20 Crab? And where's the Brown Meat?

I know it's the first time I've taken one apart, but I followed the book diligently. And some 30 min work.

But at least they ate at Rick's Place in Padstow - enjoyed it, & prices were no higher than Stow-on-the Wold!

[tim]

[Mrs Ava]

I always buy fresh crabs and dress them myself.  Essex and Cromer crabs seem to have plenty of brown meat - the best, at the moment.  The joys of living on the East Anglian coast.  ;D  How will you be having the crab Tim?  Lobster, overrated in my opinion.

[tim]

You mean that Cornish Crabs have no liver? I always thought a crab was full of it - being the 'cheap' stuff.

Steep learning curve.

[Fork]

YUK!...gimme fish,chips and loads of mushy peas anytime  ;D

[cambourne7]

i though the brown meat was in the claw?

[tim]

Noo! It's the liver - mainly!

[Jeannine]

The brown is in the body of the crab, however the female has  much more brown than the male  and it seems to be only males that are for sale these days, it may be a fishing regulation to chuck the females back, it is in the US.Years ago I could find both sexes but not anymore and they are easy to tell apart. The males by the way have bigger claws.

XX Jeannine

[Mrs Ava]

You want lovely east anglian crabs Tim.  They be the best, and even me being a Devon lass would rather cromer crabs than Devon or Cornish crabs.

[Tin Shed]

Come down to Leigh, Tim, our fishmonger was selling two Cromer crabs for a fiver. Loads of meat inside, unless of course its me who's dressing them - I just have to taste as I go along!

[Mrs Ava]

Absolutely Tin....chefs perks!  I always keep the claws for me.  ;D

[tim]

I think I'm a bit naive. I always thought that a dressed crab was filled with the meat that it contains. Well neither of mine had enough to do that.

And the only meat in the shell was 2 dsp of greeny stuff in one of them - like Lobster tomaley. So much for brown meat which usually constitutes 2/3rds of a dressed beast!!

And Emma - I bag it up in 2 dsp dollops & freeze it for later suppers. I mix one dollop with mayo/yoghurt/cream/tabasco/fresh milled green pepper & lemon or lime zest - & stuff an Avocado.

The one I did this am was bigger than the first (3lb) & gave a reasonable amount of meat. Misleading - the green bowl is only 5"across.

Agree about lobster. And usually badly overcooked.

[Jeannine]

It does look like lobster tomaley in the shell, there is no brown meat like the white, sometimes on a dressed crab I have seen the soft brown'green mixed with the white which colours the white flesh and gived the impression that their is solid brown meat.

[tim]

No brown? I'm disappointed!!

And if there's so little green/brown there, how do they get so much that they can put more brown than white into a dressed crab?

[Jeannine]

I don't know Tim, there is mostly just creamy stuff in there now with a bit of harder stuff around the edges in side, but it has not got the texture of the white meat.There was certainly more in the days when we could get the ladies though.If you followed directions from a book and it had pictures I almost will guarantee that they used a lady. If you look at Delias pictures on how to dress a crab  she is using a girlie crab and gets a lot of brown from it.

The US crabs have virtually nothing inside them and nobody eats what is there, they think it is disgusting so I guess here at least we are fortunate.

I have been annoyed about cooked crab for a long time actually. I prefer to do my own from live.

Apparently when they cook them now they ' drown' them in fresh water first so they don't fight in the pot and break the legs off. I think this soaking in fresh water removes flavour too and they seem  bland to me. I don't know when it started but it is common practise now  I am told.

I have a local connection for live ones  so when I can get there to collect I do them from scratch, but with working it is difficult so sometimes I have to buy cooked. I can get lobsters too but rarely bother as I don't think the cost justifies the product, but I would never buy a cooked one.

Fresh whelks are good though, I have a fisherman who saves them for me.

XX Jeannine

[tim]

Thanks, Jeannine.

And PS - some good Ketchup in my mayo for a pink colour &, if you'rs having salad with it, Nectarine is a must, together with your lettuce, cu & celery.