Seashore Supper

There is nothing like a meal caught / gathered, prepared and eaten within a 1km radius...simply divine. The added bonus of being able to do this with my daughter is simply perfect. The privilege of showing my daughter what can be eaten straight from the shore and see her hungrily wolf down the curly meat of a periwinkle dipped in garlic butter - is so satisfying. It feels so right to be able to show her what amazing resource we have on our doorstep and therefore why it's so important - without saying a word!

So to start we had periwinkles cooked in a bouillon and then dipped in garlic butter with crispy seaweed - actually seaweed unlike the cabbage you get from your Chinese take away.

We then had a spaghetti marinara with mussels and cockles we'd gathered and some oysters topped with Parmesan and breadcrumbs - simply delicious. The mussels and cockles were collected yesterday so still within months with an R! With every bite you are reminded of the beautiful day out with the family - the energetic walk, the sunshine, the connection with nature and the absolute gratitude of what you can find locally makes it such a very special meal.

I would have had elderflower panacotta if it had turned out better - set from the alginates from boiled seaweed - alas I was impatient and didn't boil it for long enough. As any of you follow me on Twitter will testify - it looked like gelatinous, putrefied baby sick - tasted ok... I'm going back to a simpler recipe - jelly - no milk involved - less to go wrong!