Cockles

For this recipe I had to wait a month before I could get in touch with you guys again. One of the ingredients is a preserved lemon and I decided to make on for myself, which admittedly takes one month of time. Similarly, I had to blend spices to make a Vadouvan blend and made my own chicken broth. I had thus quite a bit of work to do before the recipe even started. 

I've never eaten cockles before and as a result it is quite a challenge for me to talk about them before I came to eat the recipe as stated in the book. I am excited what taste they do have. 

The first thing the recipe does in fact instruct you to do is to cook the cockles in a bath consisting of fennel, shallots and garlic. Here's the result after I cooked it: 


Next there will be a curry reduction on the menu, which is obtained by grilling fennel, shallots, garlic and celeriac, adding spices and amontillado sherry, then reducing it with the cockle broth and a chicken broth. After infusing the reduction with tarragon and mixing it with butter, sour cream and lemon juice this was the result. 


Finally there is the pesto, which is obtained by mixing pistachio, sea salad, preserved lemon and broccoli together. 


I also had to make a tempura from broccolini. This was the result: 


After everything got plated this was the result: 

I got to say that I do like the dish. The cockles are complimented with a nice acidity from the sauce and pesto that somehow works, and the tempura from the broccolini makes sure that everything keeps being harmonious. 

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