Crab
It is a wise provision of nature that crabs and lobsters should come into season when oysters and mussels go out. They are in perfection from April to October. There is a difference between the male and the female crab. The female has smaller claws and a wider flap of tail. Those who like the claws best, therefore, give their preference to the male. But the female makes up for the smallness of her claws by the largeness of her liver and the creamy fat which surrounds it. The liver is the soft yellow substance which fills the body of the crab. Those who enjoy liver, therefore, prefer the female.
Cold Crab. Pick out all the meat from the claws and the breastplate, and shred it. Reserve a little of this, but mix the chief part of it with the liver and cream of the back, with vinegar, mustard, cayenne and salt. Put it back in the shell-the substance of two crabs may indeed be heaped on one shell-and strew over it the meat of the claws which has been reserved.
Hot Crab. The same as the foregoing, only that breadcrumbs are added (one-fourth to three-fourths of crab) and with them little pieces of butter or else some oil. To be thoroughly heated in the oven.