Strandloper Crayfish

I chose to filmed the last episode of the second season of Cooked on the historically significant beach – Robben Island is probably the best known 550 odd hectares of real estate in the Cape. What is not as well know is that Autshumato, the strandlopers chief, fondly called “King Harry” by the sailors who passed by, was banished to the island on two occasions for misdemeanors against the newly arrived Dutch settlers. This was more than 300 years before Nelson Mandela met with the same fate at the hands of the Apartheid government. The more things change the more they stay the same and this applies equally to this simple two-ingredient dish that was probably part of Harry’s staple diet and still tastes just as brilliant today.

Make a fire with hardwood – I go for apple wood. Clean the crayfish by placing it belly side down and cutting from the tail to the head. Remove the dark thin entrails and rinse it out in fresh seawater. Place the crayfish shell-side down directly on the coals. Cook for about five minutes until the flesh of the crayfish goes from translucent to white and the shell turns red. Then turn them over and cook for a further three to four minutes.
To serve, pull the perfectly cooked flesh out of the shell, drizzle with seawater and eat immediately with your bare hands – just like Harry did.

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 fresh crayfish
A drizzle of sea water