A Seashore Ramble

Last weekend saw the continuation of the seafood foraging odyssey documented here few weeks ago. So last weekend we thought we would spread our wings a little further ashore in search for rock crabs, winkles and other rock Poole life.

Everyone knows that a forager, not least this one, is pretty useless on an empty stomach. I'd wanted to visit Rye for a long time and, as it was on the way to our foraging destination, it made for the perfect lunch stop.

Seafood was the theme of the day, so what else were we going to have for lunch? Twas brilliant and tasty, even though Jon's scallop with chorizo and parsnip puree was very much on the meagre side. Lots of scallops but very little parsnip puree .....which made for an odd combination.

My seafood platter was a treat - prawns, mussels, shrimp, crayfish with lemon and bread and butter to mop up the juices. So simple but so good.

But there's no rest for the wicked, so we jumped back in the car and made our way down to Seven Sisters with nets and buckets in hand.

Unfortunately our catch was pretty limited... There wasn't much going on in the rock pools apart from an enclave of mussels tucked into a cleft between the cliffs, a few small crabs and one solitary sea snail. We declined to take them because the area was pretty dirty. A shame, but a fun day no less. Any day where I get to wear my wells and prowl around with a pink net and a big bucket is going to be pretty high up in my books!

Still, I'm not cowed - the next few weekends are going to be packed with further explorations of the seaside and hedgerow nature. Keeping a lookout for a mushroom foraging expedition in the Sussex / Kent area - if anyone knows where to find let me know!