Ingredients

8 hand-cut slices best-quality brown or granary bread
unsalted butter
for spreading
1 lemon
cut into 4 wedges, to serve
For the crab paste
brown crabmeat
from 1 large brown crab, about 1.5 kg in its shell (reserve the white meat, see below)
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp tomato ketchup
juice 1/2 lemon
1 tsp Dijon mustard
big pinch cayenne pepper
few drops brandy
(optional)
For the white meat
picked white meat from the same crab
small handful chopped mixed herbs such as parsley, dill, tarragon, chervil and chives
juice 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil

Method
step 1
Make the crab paste: mix the ingredients together in a bowl and season, then set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the white meat with the herbs, lemon juice, oil and seasoning.

step 2
Spread the bread lightly with butter, then spoon and spread the crab paste over 4 of the slices. Pile the white meat over, then top with the remaining bread. Cut the crusts off, if you like, and serve halved or in small triangles or squares with lemon wedges on the side.