Crab, brown bread and butter

Preparation method

1. For the pickled nasturtium seeds, prepare a brine with the salt and 500ml/18fl oz water in a bowl. Place the seeds in the cold brine and leave for 24 hours.

2. Drain the seeds and place in a jar, then cover with white wine vinegar. Leave to mature – preferably for at least nine months. The seeds get softer as they get older. If unavailable the nearest alternative is capers.

3. For the crab, bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the crab. Return to the boil and cook for 8-12 minutes.

4. Remove the claws and legs and continue to cook for another 2-4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, place the claws and legs back into the pan and leave to cool slightly.

5. For the butter, place the cream in a free-standing mixer and whisk steadily for about 10 minutes until it splits into solids and buttermilk. Lift out the solids and squeeze well to remove as much buttermilk as possible. Pour the buttermilk into a jug and reserve.

6. Place the butter solids into iced water and knead to remove any excess buttermilk, repeat two or three times. Squeeze the butter and place in bowl.

7. Add the salt, knead a third of the butter using pats for a couple of minutes to remove any last traces of buttermilk and to shape into a cylinder. Place back into the iced water.

8. For the garnish, pick a few sprigs of chervil, the bitter cress, nasturtium leaves, sorrel leaves, lady's smock leaves, lady's smock flowers and chive flowers. Dip in iced water and place on a cloth, cover and chill in the fridge.

9. For the crab, remove the crab from the cooking water. Crack the claws and place the white meat in a bowl. Crack the legs keeping the leg meat intact then set aside. Remove the brown meat, drain and place into food processor. Pick the white meat from the crab carapace and set aside with the claw meat.

10. Add ketchup, mustard and Worcestershire sauce to the brown meat and blend to combine. Season and pass through a fine sieve, then set aside.

11. For the mayonnaise, place two egg yolks into a food processor and season with salt and pepper. Add about 50ml/2fl oz of nasturtium pickling liquor, blend and gradually add the rapeseed oil until thick. Check the seasoning and add most of the chives and parsley – reserve one teaspoon of each for the white crabmeat. Add the remaining chervil (from the garnish) and spoon into a piping bag.

12. Take two-thirds of the butter and clarify by heating to 75C/167F in a small pan, scraping the froth from the top, then pour the butter through a sieve lined with muslin. Mix the egg yolks with a pinch of salt, then pass through a fine sieve into a jug. Pour into a syringe (or a piping bag with a very small nozzle attached) and pipe drops into the clarified butter, agitate and when the droplets are firm and floating, transfer to kitchen paper.

13. For the bread, heat a griddle pan over a medium heat. Mix the flours, salt and bicarbonate of soda, add the reserved buttermilk and combine to form a soft dough.

14. Knead very lightly and form into a circle about 2cm/1in thick. Cut into four quarters (farls), dust the griddle with flour, cook the dough on both sides until hollow sounding and toasted on the outside (approximately 8-10 minutes on each side). Remove from the griddle and leave to cool slightly.

15. For the potato spaghetti, take a deep-fat fryer or a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pan and fill to two-thirds full with vegetable oil. Heat the oil to 150C/300F (use a probe thermometer to check the temperature if you're not using a deep-fat fryer). (CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous. Don't leave unattended). Turn the potato on a Japanese vegetable slicer to make potato spaghetti. Season lightly, then wrap the crab leg meat in the strands of potato.

16. Deep-fry until golden-brown, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen roll and season with salt and cayenne pepper.

17. To serve, shred the reserved white crab meat. Juice the sorrel stalks in a juicer. Add, to taste (as you would with lemon juice), to the crab meat. Season and add the reserved chives and parsley.

18. Cut the gherkins into little dice and place on the tray with the herb garnish.

19. Depending on the nasturtium seed size, cut in half or leave whole. Place the nasturtium seeds on the tray too.

20. To plate, take a rectangular thin plastic template, spoon brown meat into it and spread across.

21. Leave the template in place and place a template with slightly smaller aperture over the top place in the white meat. Remove templates.

22. Using tweezers place garnish leaves/flowers randomly over the white meat. Squeeze the mayonnaise onto the plate and place some pickled nasturtium seeds, gherkins and yolk drops on top.

23. Place the deep-fried crab legs next to the mayo. Cut the farls in half and place on a small side plate. Remove the butter from the iced water and cut into discs. Place on a small dish with the bread farls.

Overnight preparation time

Over 2 hours cooking time

Serves 4