Cockles

These are coques (cockles), little bivalves that live in the wet sand along seashores all over the world. For some reason, Ken and I have developed a habit of eating them this time of year as kind of a switch from stews, roasts, and other traditional fall and winter meals. My favorite way to eat them is in a white wine and garlic sauce over linguini. It's "linguini with white clam sauce," but made with cockles instead of clams. Which is what we did last Sunday.

Fresh coques ready for the pot. Doesn't it just warm the cockles of your heart?

The fish mongers at Saint-Aignan's Saturday market come from the Atlantic coast in the Charente-Maritime department, not far from La Rochelle, a three- to four-hour drive southwest of here. We're lucky to have a good fish monger in town, even if it is just once a week. Fresh seafood is available at the supermarkets, of course, but the people at the Saturday market have more variety. There are good fish mongers at other weekly markets in our region, but they're not as close to us as Saint-Aignan.