Crab Masterclasses at Trishna

When it comes to preparing seafood, most people tend to get in a bit of a bother when it comes to crabs.

Prawns are shelled, lobsters are split and fish are filleted. So far, so simple. But with crabs, there are a new set of problems. There are different types of meat in different parts of the body that are used in different dishes. There is brown meat and white meat and then there are subdivisions within that white meat, which means that it cannot all be lumped together. And you haven’t even got the damn stuff out of the crab yet.

Added to all of this is the fact that they are not the most accessible of creatures either, with a hard carapace and sturdy legs. Fortunately, there is a way of navigating one’s way around and enjoying the benefits of the process. The Trishna restaurant in Marylebone is running courses in how to essentially strip a crab bare. Not only this but you will then be served up what you have turned out in the form of a four-course meal.

Faced with a freshly prepared Dorset crab, myself and two others tried to remember what had been passed on by executive chef Ravi Deulkar, trained in Trishna’s parent restaurant in Mumbai. The legs were easy to snap off and once the lower limb was discarded, we were left with the portion containing the sweetest meat. Wielding the knife handle with controlled ferocity, out came the glistening produce and it was onto the claws and shell. After the larger clumps it became a much more delicate process, scouring the innards for the smaller and smaller fragments.

After all this had been completed and what we had harvested had been handed over to the restaurant’s chefs, our group headed up into the restaurant to feast on what our produce had been transformed into. First up, featuring the large chunks of meat from the claws was a lobster and crab salad, which was considerably enhanced by the addition of green chilli and lime.

The main courses showed how crab can be served in different ways; the flaky white meat of the shell making excellent tikkis and the brown meat having more of a smoother texture when served up with pepper, garlic and butter.

Classes are held on Saturdays between 3 to 6.30pm. The course, which includes both the masterclass and the dinner, costs £60 per person but given the thoroughness of the tutorial and excellence of the food, it might be time to get to grips with crab.

Trishna
15-17 Blandford Street
Marylebone
W1U 3DG

Tel: 020 7935 5624