Crayfish

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top 1000British Seasonal Food
British Seasonal Food

By Mark Hix

Published 2008

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Crayfish call for a cooking liquid that is more strongly flavoured than saltwater shellfish do. The secret is to use a lot of aromatics, preferably of the fennel and aniseed family - wild fennel is perfect.
A large dose of wine or beer helps too, along with plenty of sea salt.

To cook the crayfish: Bring a litre or so of beer or white wine to the boil, add 2 cupfuls of water, 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, some black peppercorns, 2-3 heaped tablespoons sea salt and 2 handfuls of wild fennel stalks. You can save the leaves to chop up and serve with the crayfish if you like. Let the liquor simmer for 5 minutes, then plunge in the crayfish. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes, then remove from the liquid and leave to cool.