Crab butter

Crab butter made from genuine edible crab

Cruscana's crab butter is a spreadable crustacean cream made from edible crab, milk, and butter. Not a North Sea shrimp and not surimi, but Cancer pagurus—that crab with the powerful claws that calls the Atlantic home.

Crab butter is a delicate crustacean cream from France that you spread on bread or stir into sauces and soups. Cruscana prepares it using 25 percent crab meat, milk, and 16 percent butter, along with cod, mustard, and paprika. Of the four Cruscana butters, it is the richest in butter—and you can taste it.

A word about the name, as it is often a source of confusion: the "Krabbe" in the jar is an edible crab, Latin Cancer pagurus, a true crab with a shell and claws. Not to be confused with the North Sea shrimp (also called Krabbe in German), which is zoologically a prawn. If you like the taste of prawns, the prawn butter is the right choice—Cruscana makes both, and they taste different.

Nutty, salty, a hint of mustard

It is a pale beige-pink in the jar and smells of crustaceans and butter, with the slight sweetness that cooked crab meat provides.

In taste, it is reminiscent of the inside of a crab claw, only softer and rounder. The mustard provides a slight kick, while the paprika keeps the color warm. It sits perfectly between its siblings: spicier than the mild salmon butter, calmer than the lobster butter with its cayenne.

With 16 percent, it has the highest butter content of the four varieties, and the butter is also at the forefront of the flavor—it doesn't hide behind the crab, but rather carries it. Nutty, buttery, with a salty finish.

For fish sauces

Its true calling is in warm cooking. A spoonful in the stock for a pan-seared fish, swirled in—not boiled—gives the sauce body and depth in one go. It goes particularly well with sole, cod, or zander.

Served cold, it works well on whole-grain toast with a few drops of lemon and some chives on top. For a quick dip, stir a spoonful into crème fraîche. A Chablis or a dry Muscadet is a great accompaniment for an aperitif, as the salty streak in the wine hits the crab flavor perfectly.

It also works well in fish soup when used sparingly. Unlike the lobster butter, it doesn't push itself into the foreground—it rounds out flavors instead of dominating them, making it the more reliable kitchen aid of the two.

Because it is made without added preservatives, the jar should be kept in the refrigerator after opening and consumed within 2 days.

Fresh butter, crab of good origin

"Fresh butter, crab of the best origin, simply delicious"—that is how Cruscana briefly describes their Beurre de Crabe itself. It really isn't much more than that, and that is the point.

The manufacturer dictates the origin of the raw materials to its suppliers in a set of specifications. They have been working according to this principle since 1965, starting with Denise and Gilbert Jouneau in their suburban Parisian pavilion, based on a recipe by Auguste Escoffier.

In 1981, Danish importer Knud Hays Thøgersen took over the small factory in Herblay so that the recipes would live on, as Denise and Gilbert wished. Today, there are over 30 preparations there, all gluten-free, developed by a chef in their in-house laboratory. If you want to sample them, open two jars side by side and compare. The difference is clearer than you might think.

The crab butter is somewhat overshadowed by the famous lobster butter, and unfairly so. Anyone who likes crustaceans and doesn't need them to be too bold will find the right choice here.