One of the wrong movies Mrs J ended up in over the last weeks took place in a castle. After a week of sparse accommodation, crowds and meditation through manual labour it was truly bizarre to sit in a quiet fancy restaurant with stripped old stone walls decked out with modern art, juxtaposed with gleaming glassware and silver cutlery.

Someone adjusted Mrs Js chair as she sat down.

Yep, definitely wrong movie.

In retrospect it was “just” a nice hotel with an excellent restaurant. It’s all a matter of perspective. It wasn’t a castle. In fact it was a former monastery re-imagined as a hotel. But while the rooms were indeed old cells, now they felt like the height of luxury.

Mrs J had some truly great cold crab cannelloni in the restaurant. And while she doesn’t pretend to be able to recreate that dish or the experience in her own kitchen, she was inspired to make something with the delicate flavours of crab and avocado at home.

Here’s what she did today.

To serve two to three people you need two small cans of crabmeat (about 200g total of very well drained meat). Put the meat in a bowl and use clean fingers to break up lumps and check for any remaining cartilage.

Add about 1 1/2 tbsp of full fat creme fraiche, 1 tbsp of olive oil, a pinch of cayenne pepper (not too much), a good tbsp of finely chopped red onion, the juice and zest of half a lemon and a finely chopped tomato. Combine carefully and season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Get a handful of fresh coriander. Remove most of the stalks and make sure to chop the remaining stalks finely. Chop the leaves too, but no need to be terribly picky. Fold into the crab mix.

Peel and slice two avocados. Give the avocados a spray of lemon juice and salt.

Get the trusty toaster and make 4-6 slices of toast.

Arrange the avocados on the toast and top with the crab mix. Add a couple of wedges of lemon and a few more sprigs of coriander. Enjoy with a glass of crisp white wine – and/or a nice bottle of sparkling water.