Bisque D`écrevisse (Crayfish Bisque)

6 ½ quarts live crayfish

1 dessertspoon vinegar

Leaves from 1 bunch celery

2 ounces butter

2 large onions

4 cloves garlic

1 cup fine dry bread crumbs

2 dessertspoons chopped parsley

1 dessertspoon lemon juice

Cayenne

Tabasco

Salt

2 eggs

¾ cup flour

2 carrots, chopped fine

1 parsnip, chopped fine

6 ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped, or 1 can (1 pound, 3 ounces) solid-pack tomatoes

3 sprigs parsley

2 sprigs (¾ teaspoon dried) thyme

1 bay leaf

Hot steamed rice

2 sprigs (¼ teaspoon dried) basil 4 shallots, chopped fine

Wash the crayfish thoroughly under running water. If the bellies are silty, scrub with a stiff brush. Place in a very large deep fish- kettle, cover with cold water, add 2 or 3 dessertspoons of salt, and let stand about an hour. Drain, cover with fresh water, add vinegar and celery leaves. Cover, and cook over a low heat until water boils, then simmer gently for 5 minutes. Strain and reserve the liquid. Crack the tender shell of the tails, pick out the meat, and place in a bowl Shake the fat from the bodies (or heads) into a second bowl by gently tapping the bottom of the heads. Save about 30 of the largest heads to stuff.

To make the stuffing: Heat half the butter in a saucepan. Toss in 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic, both chopped fine. Cook over a low heat until straw coloured. Add half the crayfish fat and all the crayfish tails, coarsely chopped. Cook, stirring constantly, for several minutes. Mix in crumbs, 1 cup of strained liquid in which crayfish cooked, chopped parsley, lemon juice, cayenne, tabasco, and salt to taste. Continue cooking for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, beat in eggs thoroughly, and stuff the crayfish heads generously. Save any leftover stuffing. Place stuffed heads on a tray or in a shallow baking dish, dot with butter, and set aside.

To make the bisque: Put flour into a pan and cook over a moderate heat, stirring constantly, until light brown in colour. Cook remaining onion and garlic, both chopped fine, in a large soup- kettle with 1 ounce of butter and remainder of the crayfish fat until limp. Stir in browned flour until smooth, then add 3 pints of the strained crayfish liquid, carrots, parsnip, tomatoes, any leftover stuffing, parsley, thyme, basil, bay leaf, additional salt, cayenne and tabasco - enough to give a slight bite to the bisque. Simmer over a low heat, without a cover, for 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally. Thirty minutes before bisque has finished cooking, bake stuffed crayfish heads in a preheated 350° oven (gas 3-4) for 15 minutes. Place carefully in the bisque and continue simmering for the final 15 minutes. Serve over steamed rice with a sprinkling of shallots on top. Serves 8.