Crab mayonnaise with celery

This is another dish which I’ve never eaten or read about in precisely this form, so I feel as though I’ve invented it. Crab mayonnaise is a classic, but not with celery and herbs like this. It’s very easy.

White crab meat
Best mayonnaise, made partly with lemon, only home made
Chopped inmost stalks of celery and leaves , preferably organic for the stronger taste
Chopped chives, dill, chervil, whatever you have – dill is very good
Pepper, tabasco or some form of chilli, lemon , to taste ( be careful if adding salt as picked crab is often quite salty already)
Pickled cucumber *

Mix crab with all the ingredients except the mayonnaise. Don’t break it up too much. Gently stir in a little mayonnaise, perhaps a bit more, avoiding too much richness. Serve on salad leaves, lambs lettuce, or endive. Serve with lemon slices, pickled cucumber and some more mayonnaise separately.

*( To pickle cucumber, slice some very finely, put in a small bowl with salt and best white wine vinegar or similar, stir and leave for at least half an hour, stirring again once or twice. You could add dill. Drain thoroughly and taste. It should help cut the richness of the crab).