Seaside Snails

Ever since I was tiny I have always eaten periwinkles. They are small sea snails that live in the tidal zone along most rocky shore lines. When we were young me and my brothers would head off to the shore with some buckets while on family holidays. Every stone would be upturned in the hope that it would have loads of the little snails hanging on underneath. Very often they did just like in this photo and in no time we would have collected enough to bring home.

We were always under strict instructions from my Dad. The Periwinkles had to be in water when we picked them and we were only to pick the dark ones and not the coloured ones like the red one in the picture.

I went back to pick some in our old spot not so long ago to find things exactly as they had been twenty odd years ago. It was fun to wander round looking under the same rocks I did with my brothers all those years ago. And the funny thing was that I was just as amazed this time as I used to be as a child with all the various little creatures you uncover. The only difference was that as a kid I didn't know what these strange creatures were whereas now I do, and so it gave me some great clues as to what my favorite fish, the bass would be dining on when the tide came in later in the day. Needless to say if I know what they expect to find to eat it makes them a little easier to catch!!! So I picked a few crabs I found to use as bait later in the day. But how I got on with those bass is for another post another day!

Anyway, back to the winkles. I got the little fellas home and straight into a saucepan of salted water for 10 minutes. And then the job of getting them out of their shells. They have a little "door" that has to be removed before you "winkle" them out carefully with a needle being careful not to break their tales. Its a time consuming job best enjoyed with a glass of wine!

Once you have the winkles out of their shell you simply season them with salt and then splash on some vinegar and away you go. We usually eat them just like that with cocktail sticks. Their appearance might freak you out initially but persevere, the taste well makes up for it! One little word of warning. You must be 100% confident about the water quality when collecting and shellfish. If in any doubt throw it out and you should avoid any nasty belt of food poisoning. Happy foraging!