Cangrejo

Lower it into a large pan of well-salted boiling water, bring the water back to the boil, then simmer for about 15–20 minutes for a medium crab. Cool it before cracking the shell and removing the meat.

The shell turns bright red or orange, and the meat becomes opaque and flakes easily. If you are cooking crab meat rather than a whole crab, heat it just until piping hot so it stays tender.

Twist off the claws and legs, crack them with a nutcracker, and pick out the meat with a skewer. Lift off the body shell and remove the feathery gills and the grey, spongy stomach sac; avoid the shell fragments.

Keep a live crab cool, covered with a damp cloth and well ventilated; do not put it in fresh water or an airtight container. Refrigerate cooked crab promptly and eat it within two days, or freeze it for longer storage.

Use picked crab meat in crab cakes, crab linguine, a seafood salad or a sandwich. Brown crab meat is rich and savoury; white meat is milder and works well with lemon, herbs and a little mayonnaise.

Crab is usually cooked before eating. Cooking kills harmful germs, so avoid raw crab and cook it thoroughly; keep raw crab separate from ready-to-eat foods.

Yes. Crab is a crustacean and can cause an allergic reaction; people with a crustacean allergy should avoid it and foods that may contain it.