Seafood Boil

Quarter the onion, halve the garlic bulb across its middle and halve one of the lemons. Fill your largest pot (at least 6 litres) with about 3 litres of water and add the onion, garlic bulb, lemon halves, bay leaves, 3 tbsp of the Cajun seasoning and the salt. Cover, bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Taste the water: it should be as well seasoned as a thin soup.

While the broth simmers, rinse the mussels under cold water and pull off any beards. Throw away any with cracked shells, or that stay open when tapped on the worktop. Cut the sausage into 3 cm pieces, cut each corn cob into three and halve any potatoes larger than a golf ball.

Add the potatoes to the pot and simmer for 8 minutes. Add the sausage and corn and simmer for 8 minutes more, until a knife slides easily into the largest potato.

While the potatoes cook, melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat. Crush the garlic cloves, add them and cook gently for 2 minutes without letting them colour. Stir in the remaining 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning, the paprika, the hot sauce and the juice of one lemon, and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in the chopped parsley and keep warm.

Push the prawns and mussels into the pot, bring back to a simmer, cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the prawns are pink and curled and the mussels have opened. Discard any mussels that stay closed.

Drain in a colander, saving a mugful of the broth. Tip everything onto a table covered with baking paper or a few sheets of newspaper, or onto a very large platter.

Pour the garlic butter over the top and toss. If it looks dry, loosen it with a splash of the reserved broth. Serve straight away with the remaining lemon cut into wedges, bowls for the shells and bread for mopping up the butter.