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lemons

      24 fat live langoustines, kept in the bottom of the fridge, covered with some damp newspaper until you are ready to cook

      100g purslane or lamb’s lettuce

      1 handful of fresh sweet marjoram leaves and buds picked from their stems, washed and dried

      salt and black pepper

      To make the mayonnaise, put the egg yolk in a pestle and mortar (see here) or mixer, then very slowly start adding the olive oil, drop by drop at first, stirring all the time until the mixture is thick, sticky and gloopy. (If it is thin and the oil has separated from the egg, it means it has split, in which case start again by putting another yolk into the bowl and then adding, drop by drop, the split mixture.) As the mixture starts to thicken, about 10 minutes, add a small squeeze of lemon juice to loosen it a bit, then continue to add the oil a little at a time, checking the mixture has not separated. When all the oil has been used, taste and add more lemon juice if required – the juice of a whole lemon should be enough. Season with salt and pepper and keep cool.

      Plunge the langoustines into a pan of boiling, salted water and poach for 3 minutes, then remove, or drain, and leave to cool for a few minutes.

      Put the purslane or lamb’s lettuce in a bowl and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over with a little extra-virgin olive oil and some salt and pepper.

      Place each langoustine, belly-side up, on a chopping board. Using a sharp knife, slice the langoustine in half lengthways and remove the flesh. Distribute on the plates, gently scatter the dressed leaves here and there – but not too many as to overwhelm the flavour of the shellfish, then lightly spoon trailing pools of the mayonnaise over.

      Very crudely chop the marjoram – just one or two chops will be fine – and scatter it over the top.

      BRAISED SPINACH

      There are many more different varieties of spinach available in the supermarkets and greengrocers now than before but they never seem to name them – the packaging just simply states the generic name. I find this annoying, as I have to spend time describing the variety I am after, but I love all spinach, with its iron-y taste and melting softness when cooked.

      There is one variety that I particularly enjoy – it arrives in spring and is mainly imported from France or Italy. Unlike the usual spinach you see in the shops whose stems have been cut individually, this variety is sold with the cluster of stems attached together at the base of the plant where it has been cut from the root. The stems are fairly short, only 5–6cm, and are pink below a canopy of deeply crinkled, dark and dense leaves. It is the more robust texture and flavour that I love, compared with the larger-leaved varieties. I have tried to discover the name but no one could help.

      If you manage to find this variety, keep all the stems attached when braising in the olive oil, as they are full of flavour and look lively on the plate.

      FOR 4

      750g spinach, washed and tough stems removed

      extra-virgin olive oil

      salt and black pepper

      To wash the spinach very thoroughly, plunge it into a sink of cold water several times as sand and grit can often cling to the leaves and stems.

      Heat a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil in a pan over a medium to high heat. Drop the spinach leaves into the pan and toss in the oil with a pair of tongs. Season with salt and pepper and mix together. As soon as the spinach has collapsed and is soft and glossy, serve straight onto the plates.

      DEVILLED CRAB

      This is a wonderful recipe for spring, when the baby onions are so sweet with pearly white bulbs that have not formed a paper skin. Rose fell in love with the cooking of Sri Lanka, bringing this dish back with her. She was very excited about it, the combination of fresh crab meat with hot chillies and finely ground spices, the crab still in the half shell, and needing to get your fingers dirty. Licking-your-lips good.

      On family trips to Cornwall to stay with Su Rogers, in her house overlooking the Falmouth estuary, there is always an abundance of live crabs and this was often a way of cooking them – relaxed, with everyone going at it to get to the sweet, spiced flesh.

      Fishmongers will often need some notice if you want to order live crabs, as they tend to cook them as soon as they come in.

      FOR 4

      2 medium-sized live crabs, weighing about 2kg, kept in the fridge with some damp newspaper on top so that they fall asleep before you boil them (see here)

      1 tsp cumin seeds

      40g fresh root ginger, peeled and cut into small pieces

      4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

      2 fresh green chillies, cut in half lengthways, deseeded (optional), stalk removed, then roughly cut into pieces

      olive oil

      8 spring onions, green ends cut and root end trimmed

      1 lemon

      1 smallish bunch of fresh coriander, leaves picked from their stems, washed and dried and chopped

      salt and black pepper

      Fill a large saucepan with enough cold water to submerge the crabs. Add tablespoon of salt and bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling, drop in the crabs and cook for minutes. Remove the crabs and leave to cool.

      To prepare the crab once cool, place it on its back on a chopping board, then pull the legs and claws away from the main body and put to one side. To separate the main outer shell from the crab’s undercarriage, keep the crab on its back and remove the tail flap, then ease the top and bottom apart with your fingers (you might need to separate the meat from the shell first by inserting a blade between the two and twisting it to release). Discard the stomach sac, just behind the mouth, then remove the dead man’s fingers, which have a greyish gill-like texture to them. Scoop out the brown meat from the upper shell with the juices. Using a strong, sharp knife, cut the body section in half and with a skewer or crab pick, carefully remove the delicate white meat. Crack the claws with a hammer once in each of their different joints or sections.

      Crush the cumin seeds in the pestle and mortar, then add the ginger, garlic and chillies and pound to a paste.

      Heat a good drizzle of olive oil in a large pan, then add the paste from the pestle and mortar and the spring onions. Cook for a few minutes to allow the onions to soften, then add the brown crab meat and juices, the claws and legs and season with a squeeze of lemon and salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes to heat it through, then add the white meat and chopped coriander and toss together.

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