West coast delicacy
On a recent tour of the Cederberg and the West coast up all the way to the area of Gert Du toits se baai, I wanted to challenge myself to do something different with Limpets and explore their versatility other than just the same old minced versions with tons of nutmeg. Nothing wrong with the traditional, however I like to push the boundaries and take some risks of the unknown.
This led to this dish being made, now limpets by no means are the most glorious of seafoods and their purpose in the ecosystem is keeping the rocks clean from algae that they feed on and other seaweeds. With a comparison to that of rubber bands, you can’t help but wonder if Limpets are usually minced to break down this textural issue.
Ingredients:
- 5 Large Limpets (15 per person per day is the daily limit)
- 50gr Red onions finely diced.
- 50ml Olive oil
- 1 Fresh lemon cut into quarters.
- 2gr crushed garlic.
- Fresh salt
- Freshly grinded black pepper
- 10gr Fresh Coriander
- Adventurers Bosbrand Hot sauce (optional)
Step 1: Prep the Limpets
Clean the limpets with some clean seawater, only harvest limpets where you know the water source is clean. Using your thumb, squeeze in underneath the foot of the limpet to remove the whole mussel, then clean off the head and guts and rinse well in the clean seawater. Keep the shells as your serving ware for this dish. Using a sharp knife thinly slice the limpets into thin strips then turn your strips and cut into small cubes of about 5 mm in diameter. Place the cubed limpets into a mixing bowl, then season with salt and pepper, squeeze the fresh lemon wedges over the limpets, add your diced onions and garlic, set aside the limpets for 10 to 15 min, you might notice some bubbles on top just remove these with a spoon.
Step 2: Assemble the Ceviche
Add the olive oil to the limpets along with the freshly chopped coriander and combine. Using a spoon place some of the ceviche back into the shells to serve. Garnish with some fresh coriander and for the adventurous diner add a few drops of our Adventurers Bosbrand hot sauce to liven up this dish even more.
Enjoy