velvet crab or not

crabs en masse

The son of a friend of a neighbour caught crabs in his creels….he phoned her to come and help herself…..we got a bucket full of small wiggling crabs! Dad escaped the kitchen( not keen on crabs)…so that left me and the very keen four year old.

Checked on google that they are actually edible.

they turn bright orange when they touch the water

So, boiled a pot of water…cooked them from live for about 5 minutes, plunged into cold water. All going well. Then we discovered that the only bit with anything worth the effort was the little pincer – at least each crab has two! And much bashing and scrapping with cake forks ensued. Dinner it wasn’t, but the experience was great.

It is seriously worth buying a big crab if you want eat it.