Charlie's cayenne-spiced crab and avocado

The fresher the crab meat, the better this fantastic crab and avocado recipe will be. We can't get enough..

Brilliant crab recipe
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)

Charlie's cayenne spiced crab and avocado with charcoal biscuits

At a recent party, hosted by Country Life, a certain cayenne spiced crab canape went down rather well. So well in fact, that we begged the fantastic caterer-Charlie at Quail London (0208 560 1103/07867 847 186)-to adapt his recipe into a more substatial starter. If you are entertaining at the weekend, with time to spare, then take a trip down to your local fishmonger in search of super fresh crab meat.

Serves 4

crab recipe

Ingredients 125g pack Miller’s Damsel Charcoal Biscuits 200g White Crab Meat (such as Seafood & Eat It) 1 ripe avocado 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tbsp finely chopped dill 1 tbsp good quality mayonnaise (such as Delouis Fils Mayonnaise) salt and pepper to taste

You will need: one 7cm cooking ring (or an empty 400g tin with both ends taken off !)

Method Pit and peel the avocado and cut it into 1cm chunks. In a small bowl toss the avocado chunks gently with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and season with salt to taste. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining lemon juice, cayenne pepper, finely chopped dill and the mayonnaise. Add crabmeat and combine gently. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stand the chefs ring on a serving plate. Scoop a quarter of the diced avocado into the ring and press down. Place 1/4 of the crabmeat on top and press down again. Gently pull the ring off the avocado and crab mixture, wash and repeat with the remaining 3 servings.

Serve with the charcoal biscuits.

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Rosie Paterson

Rosie is Country Life's Digital Content Director & Travel Editor. She joined the team in July 2014 — following a brief stint in the art world. In 2022, she edited the magazine's special Queen's Platinum Jubilee issue and coordinated Country Life's own 125 birthday celebrations. She has also been invited to judge a travel media award and chaired live discussions on the London property market, sustainability and luxury travel trends.