In the late nineteenth century, shellfish was a staple in the diet of poor people living around the coast. Today shellfish is considered a luxury for the rich, high quality food fresh from the sea. Yet even the poorer Irish, if they live near the coast, still take the availability of shellfish for granted.

Serves:	4-6
Preparation time:	30 minutes
Cooking time:	25 minutes
Ingredients:	2 dozen cockles
	1oz butter 25g 1 1/2 level tablespoons
	2 peeled and diced potatoes
	2 finely chopped onions
	2 finely chopped sticks celery
	20fl oz milk 575ml 21/2 cups
	20fl oz fish stock or water 575ml 2 1/2 cups
	salt and pepper
	2-3 tablespoons lightly whipped cream 30-40ml 2-3fl oz

Method:
Wash and scrub the cockles well, put into basin of cold water and leave for 20 minutes. Heat the butter in a saucepan, add the vegetables and cook for a minute. Add the milk and stock or water and bring to the boil. Then simmer for 20 minutes. Add the cockles; shortly afterwards they will open. Shell the cockles and return the meat to the soup. Season to taste. Serve hot topped with cream.

Mussel Chowder

2 finely chopped onions

Serves:	4-6
Preparation time:	15 minutes
Cooking time:	25 minutes
Ingredients:	2 dozen mussels
	1oz butter or margarine 25g 1 1/2 level tablespoons
	3 chopped tomatoes (with skins and seeds removed)
	3 diced potatoes
	1 apple (peeled, cored and chopped)
	20fl oz fish stock 575ml 2 1/2 cups (See Chapter 4)
	10fl oz milk 275ml 11/4 cup
	1oz cornflour blended with a little milk 25g 2 level tablespoons
	10fl oz Guinness 275ml 1 1/4 cup
	tomato slices

Method:
Wash mussels and let sit in fresh cold water. Melt margarine or butter, add vegetables and apple and cook for a minute. Add stock and milk. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Add mussels, blend cornstarch and Guinness. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove mussel shells. Serve garnished with tomato slices.

From The Irish Country Kitchen by Mary Kinsella. Click here for more information on the book.

Further reading:
A Little Irish Cookbook by John Murphy. Click here for more information.

Click here A Little Irish Cookbook to buy the book from Amazon.com or here to buy the Appletree Press book from Amazon.co.uk. For more information of the Appletree Press title, click on: A Little Irish Cookbook.

Also from Appletree: A Little Book of Irish Baking. Click here to buy from Amazon.com, or here, for more information

And: The Irish Kitchen. Click here to buy from Amazon.com, here to get it from Amazon.co.uk, or here, for more information.

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