To Prepare and Dress a Crab

First scoop out all the soft creamy parts from the inside of the shell. The fresher the crab, the moister and more succulent this part will be. Pile it on a plate. Now from the inside of the body part, in a sort of V, scoop out the brown meat and slush, having first removed the finger-like gills which lie on either side of the V. They are not — and do not even look — edible. Put the brown meat with the creamy meat. Now pull the claws off the body and put them on one side. With a sharp knife make a V-shaped cut, right through the bony body, with the point of the V at the back end so that it falls in three piece’s (see diagram). With a skewer, empty all the cavities you have revealed by your cuts, and pile the meat on a separate plate. Crack the claws with a hammer or nutcrackers and pick all the meat out, again with the help of a skewer. Add to the other white meat. Add some dried, browned breadcrumbs and a little salt and pepper to the brown meat, and mash it with a fork. It gives a good texture and makes it go further. Flake all the white meat. Put the two kinds of meat in separate piles on the same dish, and serve either with mayonnaise, or simply with lemon juice or even vinegar, and brown bread and butter.