Warming to the cockles of Cornwall

A review from Locally Sourced

by Rachel

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While oysters and mussels are right up there with the A-list of celebrity shellfish, cockles and limpets have sadly dropped off the ratings. Us Brits tend only to eat them smothered in vinegar, salt and pepper in a rash act of beach nostalgia and the majority are shipped over to France, Spain and Belgium, where there is still love for the neglected mollusc. In parts of Cornwall however, at certain times of the year, new life and love is being breathed into an ancient practice.

Trigging is a distinctly Cornish tradition that involves the moon, the tides, a rake and that all-important West Country accessory: some wellies. Every year on Good Friday when the paschal full moon dictates ideal tide conditions at midday or in the early afternoon, large groups descend on the exposed mud flats of Cornish estuaries to gather cockles.

The practice of cockling or trigging is thought to predate Christianity. According to one local trigger enthusiast, it has been going “since time immemorial” and dedicated triggers will not miss a single date with the mud and a mollusc. While today’s foraging is more an excuse for a social gathering, in the past the fruits of the harvest would have been a serious protein source for those who couldn’t afford fish on Good Friday or for some beach dwellers, a source of both food and income.

The word ‘trig’ comes from the Cornish ‘tyryg’, ‘trege’ or ‘treage’ meaning the ebb of the tide, when cockles are most accessible. The original harvest was referred to as ‘trig meat’ and could include anything from cockles and mussels to limpets and winkles. The wilder north coast of Cornwall is thought to be better for limpet and mussels while the more sheltered south is favoured for cockles and winkles.

The procedure is simple: once the tide has ebbed enough to reveal the cockle beds, dive in with a rake and pick up the heart-shaped treasures by hand. They usually lie between two and eight centimetres below the surface but can even be found sitting conveniently on top of the mud. An afternoon of gentle raking must be accompanied with food, booze and barbecues. The original triggers would have cooked their haul there and then, over fires on the beach for a ‘triggy supper’.

It’s important however, to follow cockling etiquette: guidance put in place to protect what is believed to be a dwindling harvest. Remember the following and you are unlikely to land yourself in the cockling black books:

1)      Take only what you need

2)      Only take cockles bigger than a 20 pence piece

3)      Never take a cockle that is open when fresh or closed when cooked, the consequences will be severe!

4)      Keep your eye on the turning tide, it’ll move fast when it starts to come in

5)      Be wary of ‘Old Bob’ a legendary cockle that is said to have taken a trigger’s finger clean off. It is said that you can hear howling on nights when the moon is full and the tide is low …

I advocate a complete Gok-over for the humble cockle. A renaming and rebranding from the cockle to the ‘clam’ or its delicious Italian version ‘vongole’ would do for the cockle what Cornish Sardines did for the Cornish pilchard. Or should we simply stop pickling them to death in vinegar and then hoiking them out with two-pronged wooden forks that take off the inside of your mouth? Cooked with leeks and bacon the Welsh way or steamed like mussels do wonder for this neglected mollusc. Spread the shellfish love and warm the cockles of everybody’s heart.