Food DIY, How to Make Your Own Everything by Tim Hayward

Author:Tim Hayward
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241341575
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2013-07-03T16:00:00+00:00

CRAB PASTY

I love crabs, the Armoured Fighting Vehicle of the UK’s coastline and one of our most criminally underrated foods. They’re plentiful, almost unbelievably cheap, and when served fresh the meat is superior to lobster. The only barrier to this edible goldmine is cooking the damn things and getting the meat out.

In spite of years of trying, we Brits have been pretty much unable to agree on a national dish. Sunday lunch has been suggested but we’re never going to get anyone to agree about the Yorkshire puddings. Instead, I’d like to make the case for the crab pasty.

The recipe, such as it is, is so blindingly simple, so utterly right, that it hardly deserves the name. It should just be something we somehow ‘know’ – like how to queue and that ‘tum-ti-tum’ bit at the beginning of ‘Jerusalem’. Subversively, in a chapter on pastry, I am going to suggest that you use bought puff pastry: pre-made puff is often a by-product of butter over-production, it’s machine-rolled and is infinitely more delicate than that you can make yourself without machinery. Check that the ingredient list doesn’t run much longer than ‘Flour, butter, salt’ and you won’t be disappointed.

So, take some packet puff pastry. Cut a circle. Put some freshly picked crabmeat on one side, season, fold over the top, seal and eggwash and bake at 180°C until done (around 18 minutes). It is a splendid idea to add sweated shredded leeks and maybe a hint of saffron.

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