britishfood

One of my favorite memories as a child was walking along the seafront and seeing the stalls set up selling little cups of shellfish. At the time, the containers of whelks, cockles, muscles and other seafood looked horrible to me (I would only eat the prawns which were a special treat). My uncle would buy a cup of whelks and sit with a pin, pulling the meat out of the tiny shell. Now I wish I lived somewhere I could find such fresh seafood. (Kentucky is not a haven for fresh fish!)

Cockles are widely found throughout the shores of Britain and their empty shells litter the beaches, proving popular with little children. They are often eaten with just a little vinegar. They even feature in one of our most beloved folk songs which every child seems to learn: Molly Malone (with her cries of “Cockles and Muscles”).

Here’s another way of eating them:

40-50 cockles

1 oz butter

1 oz flour

1 pint whole milk

2 tbs chopped onion

2 tbs chopped celery

2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

black pepper

Scrub the cockles thoroughly under cold running water and discard any that are already open. Put them in a large saucepan and cover with cold salt water. Bring slowly to the boil. As soon as they shells open they are ready so be careful not to overcook. Allow to cool, then strain but keep the stock. Remove the cockles from their shells.

Strain the stock and bring up to 1 1/2 pints by adding water as needed. Melt the butter in a pan. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly add the cockle stock. Bring to a boil and add the milk, onion and celery. Cook for 5-10 minutes. Add the parsley and black pepper. Stir int he cockles. Heat and then serve with a nice crusty bread.

Great Britain has a coastline of some 7700 miles and nowhere in the entire nation is further than 73 miles from the sea, so it’s hardly surprising that fishing makes up a key part of the country’s history and food supply. In fact, I grew up on the coast, where fishing boats still bring their catch to shore every morning. Some of my ancestors were fishermen. So it should come as no surprise that this week I will be sharing some seafood recipes from around the British coast.

We’ll start with mackerel, pictured above.

Devon Soused Mackerel (from Salmon’s Favourite Seafood Recipes)

6 medium mackerel

1 onion, sliced

16 peppercorns

3 bay leaves

¼ pint cider vinegar

¼ pint water

Preheat oven to 350F or Gas 4. Gut and wash the fish (or you maybe able to buy them already gutted). Put them in a large baking dish and sprinkle the onion, peppercorns and bay leaves on top. Mix the vinegar and water and pour over the fish. Cover the dish with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Let the fish cool in the liquid then remove from pan and serve with crusty bread, lemon wedges and salad.