Many small fishing villages in England claim to land the freshest or the largest crabs. This recipe originated from Devonshire and has been updated a little to be in line with modern tastes. This does not mean that the character of this dish has been altered - in my view it has been enhanced.  One advantage of this recipe is that from start to finish it should take no more than about 45 minutes to produce a real masterpiece.
If you cannot get fresh crabs - then this recipe is even better - a tin of crab meat or frozen crab works just as well and you do not have to spend time digging the flesh out of the claws and the shell.

Method:
1. Chop up the crab meat into small pieces. Lightly butter 4 gratin dishes (about 6 inches diameter) then sprinkle them with the breadcrumbs.
2. Melt the butter in a pan, atir in the flour (carefully to avoid lumps). Then gradually blend in the milk and the fish stock. Stir well and bring to the boil, then simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occassionally. Take off the heat.
3. Into the suacepan with the fish stock/milk etc, add the juice from the ½ lemon (and a little grated rind), the anchovy essence, the paprike and the crab meat. Stir well to ensure everything is mixed well.
4. Whisk the egg whites until they just 'hold soft peaks'. Now, using a METAL spoon fold the egg whites gently into the crab sauce.
5. Divide the mixture into the 4 dishes.
6. Bake them all together in a preheated oven, gas mark 5 (190'C / 375'F) for 20 minutes. When they are cooked they will be well risen but still creamy in the centres.