Many readers may fondly remember afternoons hunting yabbies with a steel pump on mudflats, and while it was good sport hunting the tiny, clawed crayfish to use as fishing bait it’s likely that few got to experience eating yabbies at dinner. Not unlike prawns, the summertime culinary staple, yabbies are a tasty addition to any seafood platter or perfect for snacking on alone. The meat of the yabby is sweet and succulent, making it a tasty addition to pasta and salad dishes.

After simply boiling yabbies for a few minutes in salted water, they can be prepared in a variety of ways. Try having a serve of yabbies with roasted garlic mayonnaise or in a salad with a simple herb dressing. Get complicated and make yabby turnovers with truffle or yabby and olive oil linguine. If you’ve been looking for an interesting addition to your summer platter, why not have a crack at catching yabbies yourself.