Nicky, I am sorry to report that Mrs Beeton contains no mention of eating
dogwhelks, or whelks at all for that matter.
I have also tried other favourite references, such as Richard Mabey's 'Food
For Free', Lea and Perrins 1932 classic 'Subtle Seasoning', Elizabeth
David's 'French Country Cooking' and the rather misnamed best-ever cooks'
collection 'Fish and seafood', all to no avail.
However, I have found that whelks and indeed dogwhelks are included in Hugh
Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'A Cook on the Wild Side - the indispensable guide
to collection and cooking wild food' (a channel four book based on the
excellent cooking show of the same name)
from pages 114-115
"the common whelk lives mainly below the low-tide mark, but smaller whelks
ca be found in (and gathered from) rock pools near the low-tide mark. A
smaller species of whelk, known as the dog whelk (with whitish, yellow or
brown-banded shell), feeds on mussels and barnacles and is often found among
them on rocky beaches at low tide. It is also edible!
as for cooking, both species are treated together, without discrimination,
and two methods are employed, boiling (in well-salted water with fresh
course ground pepper, and a halved onion, 2 bay leaves and a large sliced
carrot) for about ten minutes at a merry simmer, or grilled on a barbecue or
fire (either on a rack or directly on the embers) for between 10 - 20
minutes.
(just as an aside, other recipes in this wonderful book include Risotto of
garden weeds and herbs, Sea beet, fennel and salmon tart, Bunny a la runny
honey, Squirrel casseroled with bacon, Up a tree pie, Cockle chowder and
Oak leaf wine)
Erika has also reminded me that Rick Stein recently dedicated almost an
entire program to the harvest and cooking of whelks (which may have also
included dogwhelks)
hope some of this helps
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: Nicky Milner <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 5:26 PM
Subject: Re: dogwhelks
> This is why I find it quite strange that dogwhelks are often found in
> significant numbers on sites. Ferriters Cove, Ireland, is another
> example and I think some of the Scottish middens recently
> investigated by Caroline Wickham-Jones and Karen Hardy are the same.
> I'm always wary in using modern perceptions about what is good
> and not good to eat, especially after all the recent discussion
> on tortoises and turtle soup. Some species of shellfish are not
> regarded as edible now, or are not particularly popular but I guess
> may still be consumed, however dogwhelk seems to stand out as a
> species which is frequently being described as really bad for eating
> and for bait.
> Jim, I'm still pinning my hopes on Mrs Beeton!
>
>
> > Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 15:49:50 +0100
> > Reply-to: Zooarchaeology is the analysis of Animal remains from
archaeological sites <[log in to unmask]>
> > From: tpoc1 <[log in to unmask]>
> > Subject: Re: dogwhelks
> > To: [log in to unmask]
>
> > Regarding the palatibility of dogwhelks, I grew up on a coast where
> > dogwhelks were numerous. Local 'received wisdom' (oral tradition if you
> > prefer) was that dogwhelks are toxic. Nobody had ever seen that in a
> > book or heard it on the wireless; nobody knew anybody who had been
> > poisoned by eating dogwhelks; but everybody knew for sure that dogwhelks
> > are not to be eaten. As a result, despite having eaten most things that
> > come out of the sea, I cannot contribute anything useful to the debate
> > on dogwhelk extraction or palatibility!
> >
> > Terry O'Connor
> >
> >
> > Nicky Milner wrote:
> > >
> > > It is a Mesolithic site, yes. No, I don't think there is any evidence
> > > for the use of molluscan textile dye before the Bronze Age but I
> > > think sometimes when dogwhelk is found on a site, be it mesolithic or
> > > later, purple dye is often mentioned, perhaps because dogwhelks
> > > are thought to be so unpalatable.
> > > nicky
> > >
> > > > Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 09:31:46 -0400
> > > > Reply-to: Zooarchaeology is the analysis of Animal remains from
archaeological sites <[log in to unmask]>
> > > > From: Daniella Bar-Yosef <[log in to unmask]>
> > > > Subject: Re: dogwhelks
> > > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > >
> > > > Nicky -
> > > > Do I understand correctly that this is a Mesolithic site?
> > > > If so, is there any evidence for the use of molluscan textile dye
before
> > > > the Bronze Age?
> > > >
> > > > Daniella
> > > >
> > > > Dr. Daniella E. Bar-Yosef
> > > > Peabody Museum
> > > > Harvard University
> > > > 11 Divinity Ave.
> > > > Cambridge MA 02138
> > > > U.S.A.
> > > >
> > > > tel: (617) 495-1279
> > > > fax: (617) 496-8041
> > > > email: [log in to unmask]
> > > >
> > > Dr Nicky Milner
> > > Sir James Knott Research Fellow
> > > Dept. of Archaeology
> > > University of Newcastle
> > > Newcastle-upon-Tyne
> > > NE1 7RU
> > > 0191 222 5754 (office)
> >
> Dr Nicky Milner
> Sir James Knott Research Fellow
> Dept. of Archaeology
> University of Newcastle
> Newcastle-upon-Tyne
> NE1 7RU
> 0191 222 5754 (office)
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