Seafood makes a lovely alternative to the traditional roast turkey and other meat roasts which usually weigh down the festive table this time of the year. And what can be tastier than lightly grilled fresh crayfish.

Although crayfish, or kreef, as we Kaapies prefer to call it, is quite pricey, but it's quite accessible if you have a permit and a friend with a boat.

If not, well we will just have to take the pain and pay for it because it's that time of the year and we all need a little reward for another hard year chipping away in the salt mines where we earn our bread and butter.

There are many different ways of preparing crayfish, but I prefer it as close to natural as possible, without fancy sauces.

And I love it steamed and then quickly grilled with just a kiss of lemon and garlic butter, which is the way we will do it today.

The secret of crayfish is not to overcook it because it goes all chewy and it loses a lot of its beautiful delicate flavour.

There are numerous choices of what to serve with crayfish: A lovely big tossed salad, flavoured or plain steamed rice, mashed potato, steamed vegetables... The choice is yours.

To serve four helpings of crayfish you need:

Ingredients:

  • 4 crayfish

  • ½ cup olive oil

  • Juice of one lemon

    • For the grilling:

  • 2-4 cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed

  • ½ cup melted butter

  • Optional: Few drops of Tabasco

    • Instructions:

    Place the whole crayfish in a colander, cover loosely with a lid and steam over a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes.

    Remove crayfish from the heat and place them on a wooden board until cool enough to handle.

    Slice each crayfish in half length-wise and remove the digestive string.

    Mix the lemon juice and olive oil well and paint liberally over the meaty sides of the crayfish halves and leave for 10-20 minutes.

    Turn the oven grill on very high (or have a bed of very hot coals ready if you prefer to do them on the braai).

    Heat the butter and garlic sauce and paint over the meaty side of the crayfish halves.

    Place under the hot grill and cook until it just starts to brown.

    Serve immediately.

    Wine recommendation:

    Mike of Wine Concepts suggests you try the Newton Johnson Chardonnay 2006 (Overberg) which goes for R98, with this dish.

    The wine has a rich concentration of lime blossom, citrus fruit on the nose with classic toasty flavours on the palate, leading to a long creamy finish.

    To order this wine contact Wine Concepts.