The edible or brown crab measures as much as 20 cm (8”) across. This is a beast with well flavoured, succulent brown and white meat. The brown meat of the edible or brown crab is held inside the carapace or shell, while the white meat is found, with a little effort, in the claws. The white meat consists mainly if muscle, while the much tastier brown meat is made up of digestive glands, effectively the liver or its equivalent, and reproductive organs. Amazing, but in the end not that surprising, how the liver of so many creatures provides such dense flavour. It is fished in the eastern side of the Atlantic, round northern European coasts rather than the Mediterranean but is available in markets not on the Atlantic. Because its flavour is so good it will usually be presented plainly dressed. It is illegal to land hen crabs in berry.
A strange name for the false morel mushroom. They are deadly poisonous if not cooked, closely resembling real morel mushrooms, being wrinkled and brown in the same way. However, morel mushrooms are symmetrical while false morels are irregular in shape and look like a brown brain, while true morels are more like a sponge. True morels have hollow stems while those of false morels are solid. Be careful to check each of these features before attempting to eat one. They have a fine flavour and are generally parboiled. They are popular in Nordic countries and in Finland especially.
A variety of snail - the Roman or vineyard snail. It is rather slow-growing, but thought to the tastiest of the snails though without quite the special qualites of the petit gris. Helix pomatia measure between 28 and 36 mm (around 1"-1½") while Helix aspersa are between 25-30 mm.
A large cooking apple, greenish-yellow with brownish-red flush introduced commercially by Barbourne Nurseries in Worcestershire in 1908 having been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit in 1903. It is thought to be a cross between Blenheim Orange and Golden Noble. The flesh is hard, cream-coloured, juicy and acid and it cooks to dark red and transparent purée. This is a late-season apple, harvested from mid-October in South-East England and is at its best from December to April. It sweetens on storage and is a sought-after winter apple for pies and sauces.
Edzell Blue is a potato with white flesh and blue skin. Steam or boil. Serve in its skin to enjoy its unusual appearance.
The spawn of the eel hatch in the Sargasso Sea where they develop into tiny transparent larvae which then make their way, riding currents, towards the rivers of Europe of America. By the time of their arrival they have become tiny glass eels or elvers, still transparent, but cylindrical in shape. The American elvers arrive at their destinations after a year while those making for Europe take about three. They travel up the rivers becoming darker as they do so, and then make their homes in freshwater lakes, rivers and ditches. In the United Kingdom records have shown that males spend around nine years and females 12 in fresh water environments before heading back to their spawning grounds in the Sargasso Sea. At this point they become a bright silver. What I am not sure of is whether the spawn of a particular eel return to the same place as the parent inhabited. Since the larvae of the eel do not seem to be swept completely at random across the oceans and seem to have some directional capability, it is not impossible. Adults are usually blackish-green in colour with a slightly yellowish underbelly. Because of their high fat content eels do not keep well, for which reason they are often sold live or smoked, which they take very well.
The eel pout or mutton fish is a relative of the cod but with the appearance of an eel, in which manner it is cooked. It is a freshwater fish with a yellowish, elongated cylindrical body, speckled with brown and covered in slime. Reminiscent of the burbot it can grow to 1 meter (3 ft) in length. In France it is particularly abundant in the lakes of Savoy. Once caught it is skinned and then prepared in the same way as a lamprey or an eel. Its oily and almost boneless flesh is very popular. However, in France, it is primarily eaten for its enormous liver which is made into pâté or it is fried in the same way as calf’s liver.
The egg has been recorded in cooking since Greek and Roman times and is most commonly the egg of a hen, though you may also find duck, gull, quail and goose and many others. A hen's egg provides about 14% of required protein and contains amino acids, with about 1.5 g fat of which about half is unsaturated, and also contains vitamins D, A and E and some B vitamins.
