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Penclawdd cockles and laverbread

Name: Penclawdd cockles and laverbread
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1000 g live cockles in their shells; 2 tbsp salt; 250 g laverbread (prepared laver seaweed); 60 g fine oatmeal; 8 rashers smoked back bacon; 20 g butter; 0.5 tsp black pepper; 1 tbsp malt vinegar; 4 slices buttered toast

Bara lawr: Gower cockles and seaweed cakes with bacon for breakfast

Features:High protein

Cuisine:

British

On the Gower peninsula near Swansea, the cocklewomen of Penclawdd have raked cockles from the estuary sands for centuries, and Swansea market still sells them beside laverbread, a dark purée of laver seaweed. Together with smoked bacon (pork) they make the traditional South Wales breakfast: laverbread rolled in oatmeal and fried into little cakes, cockles tossed in the bacon fat with pepper and vinegar. Chef's tip: soak live cockles in salted water so they spit out their sand before cooking.

Total time: 45 min
Difficulty: medium
Serves: 4

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Ingredients

Serves4

2 ¼ lb live cockles in their shells
2 tbsp saltfor soaking
9 oz laverbread (prepared laver seaweed)
2 ⅛ oz fine oatmeal
8 rashers smoked back bacon
⅔ oz butter
½ tsp black pepper
1 tbsp malt vinegar
4 slices buttered toastto serve

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Method

0/5 done

Step 1: Soak the 2 ¼ lb live cockles in their shells for 1 hour in cold water mixed with the 2 tbsp salt, then rinse well. Throw away any with cracked shells, and any open ones that don't close when tapped.
60 min
Step 2: Put them in a pan with 100 ml water, cover and steam over a high heat for 3–4 minutes, shaking, until the shells open. Throw away any that stay shut. Pick out the meat.
6 min
Step 3: Mix the 9 oz laverbread (prepared laver seaweed) with half the 1 oz fine oatmeal, shape into 8 small cakes and coat in the rest of the 1 oz fine oatmeal.
5 min
Step 4: Fry the 8 rashers smoked back bacon in a large frying pan until crisp, then keep warm. Fry the laverbread cakes in the bacon fat with the ⅔ oz butter for 2 minutes a side, until crisp outside and hot through.
10 min
Step 5: Toss the cockle meat in the same pan for 1 minute just to heat, with the ½ tsp black pepper and 1 tbsp malt vinegar. A common mistake is cooking them longer, which makes them chewy. Serve with the bacon, laverbread cakes and 4 slices buttered toast.
2 min

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 380 kcal
Protein: 24 g
Carbs: 18 g
Fat: 24 g
Fibre: 3 g

Nutrition values are estimates.

Recipe by

KrazyBadal

All recipes by this chef →

Good to know

How long does penclawdd cockles and laverbread take?: About 45 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
How many people does it serve?: 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
What can I use instead of butter?: The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
What can I use instead of malt vinegar?: Lemon juice, same amount.

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