Periwinkle

Bigorneau

What it is

Winkles have been gathered on North Atlantic shores since prehistory and were still sold by the pint on London and Dublin street markets well into the twentieth century. The sharply pointed shoes of the late 1950s were called winkle-pickers after the pin you need to get the animal out of its shell.

In the kitchen

Five to seven minutes in water salted like the sea with thyme and a bay leaf, then let them cool in that liquid — boiled longer they retract hard into the spiral and no pin will reach them. Flick off the operculum first, then discard the dark coil at the tip.

Goes with

Butter Garlic Parsley Fleur de sel de Guérande Lemon Thyme Bay leaf Shallot

In season alongside

Kazunoko Mekabu Poutine (Niçoise whitebait) Warty venus clam Whelk Abalone

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