Parsons Welsh Pickled Cockles, 155g

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I've also learned from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (yes, that IS his real name) that mackerel is a fish that is sustainable so I may eat some in future instead of haddock or salmon. Fresh cockles tend to only be available in the surrounding coastal areas where they live, whereas pickled cockles are packed in jars and more widely available. Cockles are also an excellent source of protein, and this is particularly true when looking at the amount of protein per calorie.

Unfortunately, I DON'T have any plans for the cockles as I haven't got a darn clue what to do with them. I've only ever eaten them when I was p*ssed but some pubs reaked of them and it was virtually impossible to kop off. I think the best thing you could do is provide John with a fork, and send him down to the end of the garden to eat them in private! Another proposed derivation is from the Latin for the ventricles of the heart, cochleae cordis, where the second word is an inflected form of cor, heart, while cochlea is the Latin for snail.Inshore waters are subject to pollution by sewage to varying degrees, and some microscopic algae on which the mussels feed may produce toxins. Moving on, we've probably seen the last of the whelks in the farmers' market for this year so, apart from the only bag of prepped whelk meats I now have left in the freezer, it looks like it'll be cockles that will be getting this treatment for the rest of the year. This pickled cockle recipe is quite different from the jars you'll find languishing on dusty pub shelves.

The blood cockle, Tegillarca granosa (not related to the true cockles, instead in the ark clam family, Arcidae) is extensively cultured from southern Korea to Malaysia. The mantle has three apertures (inhalant, exhalant, and pedal) for siphoning water and for the foot to protrude.

With a small, sharp knife slice away the hard calciferous disc at the meaty end of the whelk and trim away the dark innards from the 'tail' end that has been curled up in the far end of the shell and can be a bit gritty. Cockles are a street food in Cambodia where it is usually steamed or boiled and served with a dipping sauce consisting of crushed peppercorns, salt and lime juice. Cocklers must hold a licence, and they should use sieves to make sure that they don't collect any cockles smaller than the required landing size. They are usually only eaten cooked but controls on harvesting and marketing fall within the same regulatory regime as mussels. However, collecting cockles is hard work and, as seen from the Morecambe Bay disaster, in which 23 people died, can be dangerous if local tidal conditions are not carefully watched.

Heat the white wine in a large pan until simmering, then tip in the cockles and cook for 2-3 minutes or until they just open.Heat a touch of olive oil in a large saucepan over a high heat and, once hot, tip in the cockles and immediately cover the pan. John had bought some Pickled Cockles, one of the many items we brought back from the Pioneer Food Hall a couple of weeks ago.