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Crayfish (boiled crayfish au naturel)

A basic recipe from Erken's Stor kokebok (Great Cookbook) for boiled crayfish: the crayfish are boiled 10 minutes in salted water with dill, cooled in the cooking water and served ice-cold au naturel, garnished with olives filled with crayfish butter and green lettuce leaves.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 151 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

Erken opens the crayfish chapter with a short note on where crayfish are caught in Norway and how large a good eating crayfish should be, before giving the basic recipe for boiled crayfish served ice-cold au naturel.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Bring the water to a boil

    Bring water to a boil with salt and a good handful of dill. Wash and rinse the crayfish well.

  2. 2

    Boil the crayfish

    Put the crayfish in the boiling, salted water and let them boil for 10 minutes.

  3. 3

    Cool in the cooking water

    Leave the crayfish in the cooking water until completely cooled. If they are to be served au naturel, they should be ice-cold.

  4. 4

    Clean the tails

    Remove the shell from the tails and take out the intestinal thread, but leave the shell on the heads.

  5. 5

    Arrange

    Arrange the crayfish on a round platter with the tails toward the center. Place olives cut in a spiral and filled with crayfish butter between the heads, and set green lettuce leaves in the middle.

Changes from the original

Quantities have been estimated and given in modern measures (liters, grams, tablespoons), since the original only mentions the ingredients in the text. The language of the method has been modernized; the cooking time and method have been kept.

Time machine – what changed?

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Frequently asked questions

How long should the crayfish boil?
The crayfish are put in boiling, salted water and boil for 10 minutes. They should then be left in the cooking water until completely cooled.
How large should a good eating crayfish be?
According to the book, a good eating crayfish should be about 12 cm long – at that size it is 5–6 years old. Crayfish were caught especially in the Fredrikshald watercourse and at Ringerike.
How is crayfish au naturel arranged?
They should be ice-cold. The shell is removed from the tail and the thread taken out, while the shell is left on the head. Arranged on a round platter with the tails toward the center, olives cut in a spiral and filled with crayfish butter between the heads, and green lettuce leaves in the middle.
How do you get more flavor into the cooking water?
A handful of dill in the cooking water gives good flavor, in addition to salt.

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