Limpets – overlooked pedestrian food

Over the next week I will be posting about tuna belly, urchins and other well known delicacies. So I thought it would be appropriate to precede those posts with some perspective by this short post on a relatively forgotten pedestrian ingredient that merits a lot of interest, namely common limpets or patelles in French or patella in Italian. Limpets are found all over the world. Its conical shell has given its other French name Chapeau Chinois.

Historically humans have eaten a lot of limpets. Although a bit tedious to collect, they are easy to find and rewarding to eat. Today they are mainly forgotten as a possible ingredient on the shopping lists of gastronomic chefs. This is a pity since limpets can be used in many preparations or on their own. Possibilities are endless, like with most produce. I like eating them raw as they are, with or without a few drops of lemon or any other suitable condiment. In Italy there is a tradition to use them with pasta. Cooked, I like them cooked gently in butter and/or olive oil until they let go of their juices. I add a little cooked garlic and parsley as seasoning and they are ready to be eaten. Cooked potatoes or any other form of starch can be added to this preparation.

So go out and look for limpets chefs!