Wedge clam

Telline

What it is

It lives in the swash zone and reburies itself with every wave, so it is taken by walking backwards through knee-deep surf dragging a wide-mouthed rake called a tellinier. Two centimetres is a normal one and a portion is counted in hundreds, which is why the Camargue limits a hand-gatherer to a kilo a day.

In the kitchen

Purge them a full day in cold sea water changed twice, then cook the whole kilo in one wide pan over the fiercest heat: thirty seconds after the last shell opens, they are done. Pour the juice off through muslin and give it back to the dish — there is always sand in it, and it is also the best thing on the plate.

Goes with

Garlic Parsley Olive oil Lemon Tomato Espelette pepper Fennel Butter

In season alongside

Clam Razor clam Soft-shell clam Spider crab Brill Arctic char

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