Fresh crabs should feel heavy for their size. You can buy a crab live and boil it yourself; alternatively, ask your fishmonger to kill it for you, or buy it ready-cooked. If buying cooked crabmeat, it’s much easier to buy it already out of its shell.
The main types of crab available are:
European Brown crab - popular all over Europe, this crab is available all year round. It reaches 20-25cm/8-10in across and has heavy front claws with almost-black pincers, a rusty-red or brown shell, and red hairy legs mottled with white.
Atlantic Blue crab - this crab has a blue-brown shell and can grow to 20cm/8in, but is usually sold smaller. When newly 'moulted' (crabs regularly shed their hard shells), the crabs are caught with soft-shells and deep-fried for eating whole. The Blue crab is popular along the Eastern seaboard of the United States.
Dungeness crab - this can reach up to 20cm/8in and has plenty of delicious white, dense sweet meat. The meat in the shell, notably different for its pale greyish-green colour, also has a great flavour. It is popular along the Pacific seaboard of the United States
Spider crabs - popular in and Spain, this sweet-flavoured crab has no large claws and, indeed, resembles a big spider.
