Fricassee of Crabs Recipe

Ingredients
6 fat crabs
2 onions
butter, 1 tablespoon or butter & lard mixed
flour, 1 spoonful
parsley, chopped
green onion
rice

Directions
Take six nice fat crabs, wash them, and while alive chop off the claws; then clean the rest of the crabs carefully and lay them in a dish.

Chop up two onions fine, fry them in a tablespoonful of butter, or butter and lard mixed; when brown and soft stir in a large spoonful of flour, which must also brown nicely; throw in some chopped parsley and a little green onion, and when they are cooked pour on a quart of boiling water—this is the gravy.

Now put in the crabs without parboiling.
Let them simmer in the gravy for half an hour, and serve with boiled rice.
Parboiling crabs destroys their flavor; they should be alive to the last moment.

Source: La Cuisine Creole, 1885