August 25, 2026

Crab bisque with a Gruyère crouton

A bisque is the best possible use for brown meat. It is too rich to eat in quantity on its own, and it turns a plain shellfish stock into something with real depth. Ask the counter for a cooked crab and we pick it, keeping the brown separate so it goes straight into the pan.

This recipe comes from Seafood & Eat It, the Newlyn crab company whose hand-picked Cornish crab we stock on the deli counter. Their original is here. We have written ours for a counter, so you can use picked meat from a whole crab or one of their pots.
Serves 2Prep 30 minTotal 35 min Order the crab

Ingredients

  • 100g picked crab meat, or 1 pot of Seafood & Eat It Brown Crab (ask the counter and we pick a cooked crab)
  • 20g grated Gruyère
  • 2 toasted slices of baguette
  • 500ml shellfish or fish stock
  • 50ml white wine
  • 50ml double cream
  • 1 brown onion, finely chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
  • 1 small carrot, finely chopped
  • 1 small bulb of fennel, finely chopped (fronds reserved)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • ¼ tsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil knob of butter
  • 1 lemon

Method

  1. Add all the finely chopped vegetables, excluding the garlic, to a large heavy-based pan along with the star anise, bay leaf, olive oil and butter. Sauté over a medium/low heat until soft but not coloured, around 10 minutes.
  2. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute, add the tomato paste and paprika, and continue cooking for a further 5 minutes. Turn up the heat a little and add the white wine allowing it to bubble away for a couple of minutes.
  3. Add the crab and stock and continue cooking for a further 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, discard the bay leaf and star anise, and blend until smooth with a stick blender.
  4. Pass the soup through a sieve into a clean pan, add the cream and put back on the heat to warm through. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.
  5. Top the bread with the grated cheese and melt under a hot grill, ladle the soup into bowls and top with the cheesy croutons and reserved fennel fronds to serve.
  6. brown crab, the deli counter and what is on the counter today. Ask us to pick and dress a cooked crab.