Percebes and Erizo de Mar

Percebes, also know as Gooseneck barnacles grow on the rocks of Galicia. Harvesting them is often a dangerous task. The ‘percebeiro’s’ have to wait until low tide, to scramble down the rocks to harvest them. You need to be vigilant, to be a wary of the dangerous surf.

Sadly in The Curse of Gluttony’ one of our characters, Miguel Hernandez lost his father in a tragic accident. In his honour he chooses to make Percebes and Erizo de Mar.

This is not for the faint of hearted but pull this off and it is one for the Instagram.

Percebes Ingredients

500g of Percebes (separated and rinsed)

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 Bay leaf

2ltrs of water

4 tbsp of rock salt 

1.      Add the salt to the water and bring to the boil. Add the oil, the bay leaf and the seafood, and boil vigorously for 3 minutes.

2.      Plunge them in to an ice bath.

3.      To prepare them you need to pull of the head and be careful to pull out the fan intact.

Erizo de Mar Ingredients

4 x Sea Urchins

100ml of Cava

150ml of Double Cream

1 tsp of lemon juice  

Erizo loosely translates in to ‘hedgehogs’. This part of the process is probably the trickiest. Using a sharp knife you need to be able to avoid their prickly protection, and cut them open. The goodness is the vibrant roe inside.

1.      Open the urchins, scope out the roe and add to a small bowl. Mash them gently, you are looking to form a creamy paste.

2.      Add half the Cava and half the double cream until it is fully incorporated. Keep adding until you are happy with the consistency, like making mayonnaise.

3.      Add in the lemon juice and stir through.

It is up to you how you serve. It will work great standing up as a tapas, or if you want to make it more chef like, you can pimp it up on the plate.

Ben, our wine guy from The Curse of Gluttony recommends serving it with an Albarino from Galicia, the slightly less glamorous cousin of Sauvignon Blanc.