How to Prepare a Crab in Brittany

Female: So Isabelle, we’ve been fishing today, where did we go fishing for crabs? Isabelle: We went fishing for crabs on – which is called Houat and as you can notice, we fished really big crabs. We’ve got huge crabs, you may notice it’s very very impressive. Female: I think you’re telling a little lie there because actually we caught some very small crabs and then we went to the fishmonger and we had to buy some more to eat. Isn’t that really the truth? Isabelle: It is, in fact we had to do that. In fact, Oliver who is – cousin went to the fisherman and bought five crabs because really the fishing was very tiny. We just had two small crabs and a few mussels and oysters too which were not very good but oil. Female: But basically, it was at the island that they were fresh from there so explain to us how you’re going to cook the crabs? Isabelle: So you’ve got to put boiling water with lots of salt and then herbs, thyme and how do you call it bay leaves and so it’s got to be boiling and then you plunge the crabs into the boiling water and so in this thing. I would do it because we still got four-we’ve already got four of them inside so that’s enough so this one would be done tomorrow for lunch. Female: And you put them in live? You don’t kill them first? Isabelle: No, that would be a real horror as I’ve said, it’s got to be alive and you just plunge it like that. It seems to be a bit cruel but you know French people aren’t that cruel as you know. We eat frogs, we eat crabs but we boil them first and they don’t have to be killed first. Female: So how long will you cook the crabs in the boiling water? Isabelle: So the crabs will have to be cooked for 20 minutes, that’s what I gathered – I don’t remember the proper time so 20 minutes and then you eat them with either mayonnaise or with a batch of French bread and butter and we’ve got a special recipe for part of it so you put some-it takes all the guts outside and smashes everything. Female: Or the shell? Isabelle: Everything which is inside and he puts olive oil and I think lemon. I can't remember I think it’s olive oil but he’ll tell you in a minute the exact recipe because it’s very good, you try anyway and taste it a bit later. So that’s it. Female: So show us how you’re going to prepare the crab. Bernard: The crab is cooked, it’s a big red crab. And you open it by the mouth here like that. The gut of the crab, you take it in a special bowl to make the sauce. Female: So how do you make a sauce with the guts of the crab, that doesn’t sound very pleasant. Bernard: It looks unpleasant but it’s quite good. You put olive oil and a kind of onion, special onion for it and just it’s quite good, quite nice. Female: You pour it over the crab after or what? Bernard: Yes, and after, you cut the crab in both parts like that and here is very good, the flesh of the crab’s here. Female: The meat’s there, that’s the best meat is it? Bernard: So white meat is here. You put the crab there and you reconstitute the crab of that. Female: So that makes it look attractive to serve it? So Isabelle just explain to us the crab that we just cooked and how we’re going to eat it? Isabelle: So as Benoir said before, you get a little bit in your plate, you take it off the shell and then you try and eat the nice meat which is the white bit here as well as this orange thing which is really delicious so you put it in your plate and take a bit of sauce. Female: So what’s in this sauce? Isabelle: It’s all the guts. Female: Doesn’t sound very appetizing. Isabelle: It is once you’ve tasted it, you wouldn’t say this anymore so you get some in your plate and take the bread, please give a little bread and then take it like this and you do it as we do in France with soup or even anything like that and you taste it. It is delicious. Really delicious. So you take-give me one of these tools, you’ve got to buy these otherwise, you can't eat your crab probably. And so you see this one is really good and then people eating, you’d better come and eat it without- Female: I will.