Pick the meat carefully out of a large crab and its claws; cut into small pieces, mix it with about a fourth part of breadcrumbs, and a very small quantity of finely shred parsley. Season it well, and return it to the shell with some small bits of butter here and there, enough, when warmed, to keep it moist. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over it, or a spoonful of lemon-pickle or acid sauce. Put a thick layer of crumbs of bread upon the top with small bits of butter laid all over it, and bake it in the shell before the fire, or in the oven. The shell of one crab will contain the meat of two.

Or:- Boil them, take the meat out of the bodies and the large claws, put it into a stewpan with half a pint of claret, a spoonful of eschalot-vinegar, a little cayenne, some salt, and a piece of butter: let them stew for an hour over a gentle fire, until they are almost dry. Then add a small quantity of fish-stock or gravy, a table-spoonful of essence of anchovy, and a small piece of butter rolled in flour. Serve with sippets of fried bread round the dish.

Another way is to put the meat into a stewpan with half a pint of white wine, a spoonful of eschalot or garlic vinegar, a little parsley and thyme minced fine, the yolks of three eggs boiled hard and minced small, and some salt and cayenne pepper. Let it stew gently till quite tender and almost dry; then add a piece of butter, stir it about for a few minutes over the fire, wash the shells, butter them, put the stewed meat into them, and serve on a napkin.