ormers

Three days three fishing trips part 1

If you love seafood and the feeling of enjoying the fruits of your labour then this is a post for you.  This blog takes you to hot spots only visited by locals to hunt and gather your own “catch of the day”

Ormers are gathered during unusually low tides by wading among underwater boulders and feeling around blindly for their upside-down shells with hands too numb to feel anything, except that is, the claws of lady crabs or small chancers, which happen to occupy many of the same underwater crevices as the ormer.   If you're lucky enough to avoid getting nipped by a chancer or a lady crab, your probing fingers are liable to settle on the undulating slime of a sea anemone, recoiling abruptly in terror and disgust.
After some exploration, We got into the water amongst some rocks with ormers on the radar. I didn’t have to look far. After spending 2 hours of  back breaking work and with our bag of ormers secured it was mission accomplished. Time to head back to dry land and make our way back to camp for a warm shower and cleansing ale or three before the task of cleaning our catch.  Seafood is incredibly easy to prepare. With a little basic knowledge, you can become an expert in no time at all, creating dishes that you, your family and your friends will truly savour.

Preparation:

Fresh, Whole Ormer
1....If you have a fresh Ormer, either you worked hard for it, someone who must love you worked hard for it, or you spent a pretty penny buying a farmed one.  In any case, you'll be happy to learn that cleaning it (preparing it to be cooked) is a surprisingly easy process...

Pry Ormer From Shell
2....Use a wide, flat wooden spatula or similarly thin, blunt tool to pry whole ormer from its shell. (I like to do this in a sink for easier clean-up.)

The ormer attaches to its shell with a solid round muscle at the bottom, everything else is just clinging to the shell. Work open a section between the ormer and the shell and then work the spatula around and along the shell until the ormer detaches. Push against the shell with the tool rather than the ormer for easiest release and to keep the ormer whole...

Remove Ormer From Shell
3....Once you've prised the ormer from its shell, slide it out.  Set the shell aside — you can scrub it clean and air-dry it for decorative use, if you like.

Cut Off Guts
4....Hold main body of ormer and let guts hang down. Use a sharp knife to cut off the guts. Discard guts (I recommend enclosing it in 2 plastic bags as they can really ming after a while!)

Scrub Ormer Clean
5....Scrub off black film along sides of ormer . You can also cut this off, but it cleans off easily and
preserves more ormer meat.

Cleaned Ormer
6....A whole, cleaned ormer ready to slice or chop and cook.

Ingredients:8 – 12 Ormers
6 Shallots or 1 Large Onion
400g Carrots
2 Bay Leaves
150g Belly Pork or Bacon
150g Guernsey Dairy Butter
Salt and Pepper
Flour for dusting
500ml Guernsey Ale

Cooking Method:Season the flour with salt and pepper and lay the Ormers into the flour on both sides.
Melt the Guernsey Dairy Butter in a frying pan and gently fry the Ormers until golden brown on both sides.
Place the Ormers into a casserole dish.
Dice the belly pork or bacon and fry off in the frying pan together with the diced carrot and onion, add to the casserole dish with the bay leaves, pour onto this the Guernsey Ale, heat gently and place in the pre-heated 160 / 170 0C oven with a tight fitting lid for two hours, reduce the oven temperature and allow the casserole to cook gently until the Ormers are tender.