Beside the seaside
Cockle popcorn with lemon mayo dip recipe
In a recent issue, I spoke about how one of my simple food pleasures is a crisp sandwich, and how I always remember eating them at the beach – praying that a grain of sand had not embedded itself in the butter somehow. Because as much as I love the feeling of sand between my toes, I loathe that moment you crunch a grain between your teeth. In fact, it makes me shiver just thinking about it.
Sand in my molars aside, I absolutely adore the seaside, whether it’s watching the wispy clouds overhead as you peer at the bright sunny sky from your supine stance atop your towel, combing your hair from your eyes on a blustery walk along the windswept promenade, or staring at the sea through the misted-up windscreen of the car as you gorge on fish and chips and tea in a polystyrene cup as the rain beats down like a steel drum on the roof.
The seaside also comes with some of the best food, of course. The aforementioned fish and chips are an obligatory meal when the sea is in sight. For me, they have to be served in the paper with enough salt and vinegar to make your eyes water. Not that it has to be fish, it could be a wonderful, luminous russet rissole with its herby corned beef filling, or perhaps a perfectly crispy battered sausage – ideal for dipping in a little pot of bright, lime green, mushy peas – or those glorious little scrumps (tiny bits of crunchy batter and potato) that gather at the bottom of the wrapper.
It would be remiss not to have a bit of shellfish metres from where it’s been caught. And when I think of shellfish by the beach, I am instantly transported to Café Môr in Freshwater West in Pembrokeshire. The ‘solar-powered-mobile-converted-fishing-boat-seaweed-kitchen’ as they call themselves, serves up the most divine fresh lobster and crab breakfast rolls with Welsh sea black butter most mornings throughout the summer months.
And let’s not forget ice cream! My personal preference is rum and raisin or failing that mint choc chip (yes, my friends do call me an old man with some regularity). Ice cream at the water’s edge takes me back to sunny university days spent wandering to Mumbles and calling into Joe’s Ice Cream for a scoop or two. I prefer a tub over a cone, FYI.
When I think of it, London is the furthest I’ve ever lived from the sea and whenever I am there for a long time, I definitely have a kind of yearning to be near the coast. A strange sort of pull inside me that I need to see the sea, breathe in the salty air (that my Nan always assured me would make me sleep well), and listen to the call of the seagulls. A bag of chips in hand or a crisp sandwich and a steaming cup of tea and I am truly beside myself with glee.
The Recipe
Cockle popcorn with lemon mayo dip
A customary tapa in lots of bars in Spain is berberechos (one of those Spanish words that also trips delightfully over your tongue), or cockles as they are known in English. They are often served straight from the tin in their briny solution to accompany a refreshing caña of beer or ice-cold glass of sherry or vermouth. It used to be the one tapa that if it arrived on the table would make my heart sink and my stomach turn. I just didn’t get it, but as with many things (olives, red wine, blue cheese) my tastes have changed and I’ve grown to appreciate them.
Of course, it’s not just Spain where cockles are lauded. It’s thought that cockle farming on the Welsh coast dates back to Roman times and they are still being harvested today. Traditionally, cockles were picked by women, who would head out on to the sands of the Gower peninsula and complete the back-breaking work of raking the cockles and sieving out the sand in a riddle, before piling them into baskets that they would often carry on their heads to the market in Swansea. A report for the South Wales Sea Fisheries Association in 1916 estimated almost 320 tonnes of cockles were harvested in the Penclawdd area each month. As transport improved, cockles were a common snack in pubs throughout the country.
These days, cockle picking is regulated, with only about 36 licence holders permitted to harvest around 1000 tones a year. But you can still buy them in Swansea market, where it is customary to douse them in malt vinegar and pepper.
The are lots of ways to serve cockles and one of the most well-known (other than eating them as they are) is on a Welsh breakfast alongside laverbread, but there is something about their snackability that does make them great just served with a cheeky glass of something.
Ingredients (serves 2)
1 small jar (about 155g) pickled cockles
2 tbsp flour
Oil for frying (sunflower or vegetable is best)
3 tbsp mayonnaise
Zest and juice of half a lemon
Method
Drain and rinse the cockles and leave to drain of any excess water.
Measure the flour into a bowl and tip in the cockles. Move them around with a fork to separate them and ensure each is dusted in flour.
Heat about 2-3cm of oil a deep pan. When the oil is hot (when a bit of bread browns within 30 seconds) carefully sprinkle in the cockles in batches making sure they don’t stick together in one lump.
Fry for around 2-3 minutes until the outside has turned golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.
For the dip, mix the lemon zest and juice into the mayo until well combined.
Served with a cocktail stick to make them easier to pick up and dip.
I love how you get a sharp pang of lemon against the sweetness of the cockles and the hint of the pickling vinegar in the background. This cockle popcorn is great as a snack in front of the TV, as part of a barbecue feast on a sunny day, or as a fun starter
If you try the recipe out, don’t forget to tag any photos with #mywelshkitchen.
The Playlist
To me, cooking and music go hand in hand, whether that’s singing at the top of your voice using a wooden spoon as a microphone while waiting for pasta to boil, or dancing around with the oven gloves on as the oven timer counts down. Here are this week’s ideas for your Welsh Kitchen playlist.
Two tunes about the seaside are heading onto the playlist this week. Firstly, a Welsh classic sung by Llanfairpwll singer and presenter Elin Fflur, and secondly a hit from the late 70s about a day trip to Bangor – apologies, as this one will be stuck in your head all day.
Ar Lan Y Môr by Elin Fflur
Daytrip to Bangor by Fiddler’s Dram
The Pantry
Good food is nothing without good ingredients and thankfully there are plenty of fantastic Welsh products on the market. Here is where you’ll find recommendations to stock up your cupboard, fridge or fruit bowl.
Barry Island Gin
Started by Tim and Claire, Barry Island Gin is a premium small-batch Welsh dry gin with notes of blood orange, lime, juniper and thyme. It was originally conceived as something to sell at the couple’s Craft Republic bar, but has turned into a success in is own right, and now the couple produces a range of spirits – all distilled in the Vale of Glamorgan, with many of the botanicals used grown on the their Barry Island allotment.