Instructions: Pull the legs and claws from one of the crabs close to the body.

Turn the crab upside down and holding it firmly with one hand insert the thumb and first finger of the other hand into the sockets from which the large claws come and pull out the centre of the crab.

The tail stomach and gills are attached to the centre; the stomach is the little bag near the eyes.

The featherylooking gills are round the centre and some may still be attached to it.

Discard the stomach and gills.

The white hard centre shell will be left.

Remove the crab meat from it crack it open and pick out all the little pieces of meat with a skewer.

With a spoon remove the brown meat from all around the inside edges of the shell.

Keep the white and dark meat separate.

Scrub the outside of the shell and wash the inside. drying it carefully.

Break away the edge from the main shell approx press firmly with your thumb and the shell will crack off quite easily round the natural line.

Rub the outside of the shell with a little cooking oil to make it shiny.

Crack the large claws with a kitchen weight and remove the meat from inside them.

Mix this meat with the rest of the white crab meat.

Take great care not to allow any splinters of shell to fall into the meat.

Detach the small claws at the ends of the legs wash and dry them and keep them for a garnish

Crack the legs and remove the meat from each section.

Prepare the other crab in the same way.

Mix half the breadcrumbs with the dark crab meat and the rest with the white meat.

Moisten each with some of the mayonnaise and season with salt pepper and a little nutmeg.

Refill the shells with crab meat the white meat at one side and the dark meat at the other

Sieve the yolks of the hardboiled eggs and chop the whites roughly.

Coat one half of each crab with sieved yolk and the other half with chopped egg white.

Sprinkle plenty of chopped parsley down the centre.

Decorate the crabs with the small claws stickinq out from the parsley.

Serve with a green salad and a potato salad.

Serves 6

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