Perfect Pickled Cockles
Once made, this perfect Pickled Cockles recipe makes for a great emergency snack. It also works superbly well as a Tapas-style dish, if you're feeling a touch Spanish one day. We love Cockles, and you should too!
It's amazing to think that Cockles were once the favourite snack of beer drinkers. In fact, it was a common sight to see Cockle-sellers walking from pub-to-pub with baskets full of Cockles.
These days, Cockles are far less-fashionable, which is a great shame as they really do make the perfect beer snack.
There are still a handful of Cockle-sellers doing the rounds. We think there should be many more!
- 1 kg Cockles (live & cleaned)
- 1 red chilli (split lengthways)
- 1 banana shallot (peeled and sliced)
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 1 small handful of dill
- 50 ml dry sherry
- 100 ml cider vinegar
- 30 g sugar
- Sterilise your jar
Most people have their own preferred method for sterilising jars.
We tend to use the oven method for sterilising jars.
- Prepare your Cockles
Place you Cockles in some heavily salted water for three-four hours to help purge the last of the sand.
Remove the Cockles and rinse thoroughly. The aim is to get rid of much of the sand and grit as possible.
The Cockles you buy from your fishmonger should have been UV-treated. This makes the Cockles safe to eat and helps to remove any impurities. However, it's still worth purging them for a little while longer - as Cockles can be determined grit-huggers! - Cook your Cockles
Heat a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the cockles and the sherry, turn up the heat to maximum and pop the lid on the pan.
Every minute or so, give the pan a gentle shake to encourage the Cockles to open.
Once all the Cockles have opened, remove from the heat and drain while retaining to cooking liquor.
Discard any unopened cockles.
Pick the Cockle meat from the shells. Do this too soon after removing from the heat and you’ll end up with blisters on your fingertips!
- Prepare your pickling liquor
Drain the cooking liquor through a find sieve and add to a clean pan.
Over a low flame, add the shallot, chilli, thyme, cider vinegar and sugar.
Bring to the boil then kill the heat.
Set aside the cooking liquor until chilled.
- Finish your Pickled Cockles
Once chilled, put the Cockle meat into your jar, add the chopped dill, and then pour in the chilled liquor.
And there you have it! Your very own pickled Cockles 🤩
- To serve
Serve as a snack with some rye bread perhaps, or use as part of tapas ensemble!
Alternatively, open a cold beer and snack away. Cheers.
Storage: Pickled Cockles should be fine to keep in your fridge for up to two weeks.
Read more: Curious about Cockles? Read our guide to Cockles.
