Food from the Wild

Molluscs

Cockle Cardium edule
Abundant in certain areas where there are sandy, muddy shores, cockles live below the middle to lower shore-line. As the tide recedes, cockles tend to burrow down quickly about 5-7cm (2-3in) into the sand. Cockle­gatherers rake them up using a blunt rake, going carefully in order not to break their shells and taking only those measuring more than 2.5cm (1 in) across. To prepare, wash the shells and stand in fresh water for 6 hours, then plunge in boiling water for 5 minutes. Eat by removing the meat from the shells. Serve them plain in a vinaigrette dressing or add them to mixed seafood salads or make them into cockle pie.

Crab Cancer pagurus
Found from the middle to lower tide­line in rocks, seaweed and under stones, crabs are caught with a baited lobster pot ; they are much more common and easy to find. Cook in the same way as lobster, allow to cool and then remove all the meat from shell and legs. Dress with a vinaigrette or mayonnaise dressing and serve heaped up in the shell.

Limpet Pattela vulgata
Their conical shells will be seen on most rocky shores clinging to the rocks with the aid of a powerful sucker. They are said to produce a resistance of 67kg (150lb). Prise them off the rock with a knife and wash them. Then soak them in water for several hours and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the shells and simmer for a further 30 minutes. Limpets are sometimes called the Poor Man's Oyster and can be used instead of mussels or oysters in any recipe, but they are always somewhat rubbery to eat.

Lobster Homarus vulgaris
Lobsters are in season from April or May until October. They were common and cheap but overfishing has made them rare and very expensive. They are generally caught in baited lobster pots attached to ropes which are lowered down on to the seabed where the shore rocks end and the sand begins. A surer way of getting a lobster is to exchange money with a local lobster fisherman­every west-coast seaside village seems to have one.They will be totally fresh and cheaper than any you can buy in a shop.

To cook, put the live lobster in a pan and cover with cold water and a firm lid. Bring it slowly to the boil. The gradual heating of the water anaesthetises the lobster and it feels no pain. Allow 15 minutes simmering time for the first 450kg (1 lb) lobster and 10 minutes for each subsequent one. Once cooked, remove from the water and allow to cool. The fine taste of lobster should not be obscured by rich sauces-a little home-made mayonnaise is all that is required as accompaniment.

Mussel Mytilus edulis
From the mid tide-line down, on all types of shore where there are rocks or stones for attachment, mussels will be abundant and are one of the most delicious molluscs. A Mr King taking part in Darwin's voyage on HMS Beagle described how the natives of Chile cooked mussels in the ground. They first dug a hole, then lined the bottom with smooth stones on which they lit a fire. When the stones were sufficiently hot, the ashes were cleared away, the mussels heaped on the stones and covered first with leaves and straw and then earth. They cooked in their own juice.

Oyster Osterea edulis
It is unlikely today that you will find many uncultivated oysters. Overfishing and pollution have diminished the numbers that used to inhabit the estuarine waters of England. Any that still exist lie in carefully tended beds mostly around the east coast, Whitstable, Colchester and Orford and there are still some uncultivated oysters off the Scottish coast. British oysters are considered the finest in the world. Purists eat them raw, the shell prised open at its hinge with a knife, then perhaps sprinkled with a little lemon juice and swallowed whole.

In the days when Sam Weller could remark that 'poverty and oysters always seem to go together' raw oysters were reserved for invalids. The wealthy, if they ate them at all, cooked them in various ways. They were dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and fried, stuffed into steaks which were then grilled, included in steak pies, wrapped in thin rashers of bacon, put on skewers, grilled and served on toast, or stewed. But however they were cooked, care was taken not to overcook them as this made them tough. Madame Prunier lists twenty-nine recipes for oysters in her book of fish cookery. This is taken from one of them;

Periwinkle Littorina littorea
Found clinging to rocks and weeds on the shore-line between high and low tides, periwinkle are very common. A large family, of which the common periwinkle is the biggest, and therefore the one most worth eating. Before cooking, they should be soaked overnight in clean water in a carefully covered container-they are great escapers. Then plunge them in boiling, salted water and simmer for 10 minutes. To eat, heap a pile on your plate and 'winkle' out the tiny bodies with a pin, discarding the black head at the base of each shell. Some people like to dip them in pepper and vinegar.

Shrimp Crangon vulgaris
Widely distributed and locally abundant, shrimps are found on sandy shores at the lower end of the tide-line in pools and river estuaries. Specially constructed shrimp nets are used to catch them, pushed along the sandy bottom near rocks in low water. The stealthy manage to catch them in rock pools with the aid of a butterfly-type shrimping net.

Others bait a fine meshed lobster pot with a piece of fish or entrail and leave it in a strategic place. And yet another way is to bait a netted hoop, drop it to the sea bottom on a rope, leave it for a while and, when it is pulled up, pray that it is full of shrimps. The best way of eating shrimps is to boil them in salted water for 3-5 minutes and then, pulling off the shells, eat them plain or with a little mayonnaise. Small ones are good potted and it is also a successful way of preserving them.

Whelk Nucella lapillus
A type of marine snail with a horny shell. The whelk is commonly found on rocks often in association with mussels They used to be specially abundant on the Cheshire coast and were sold in quantities in Liverpool. Clean, soak anc boil for 5 minutes. After this they are good made into soup or steamed for 1 hour and served in a parsley sauce.