Boil the crabs in salted water in a large pan, together with the onions, celery and carrot for 30 minutes.

Remove when ready and leave to cool.

Mix the vegetables in the blender and put back into the crab water – its’s full of flavour.

This is where the drama begins. Take the crabs and using a pair of pliers and various other tools, smash the crab shells and remove the flesh. Be patient. You wont get a lot of flesh, so be careful not to throw any away.

From now on it’s much easier. Take out about 1½ glasses of crab water and then boil the rice in the rest. When ready drain and scald with one coffee-cupful of olive oil.

In a saucepan prepare a light béchamel sauce with the other cupful of olive oil and the flour, adding the 1½ glasses of crab water slowly to the roux. Put in all the crab meat and last of all the lemon juice.

Serve the pilaf and then pour the tasty lemony sauce over it. Season liberally with freshly ground black pepper.