Seafood Chowder with Goolwa Cockles

Goolwa cockles, also known as pipis, are bivalve molluscs, similar in their two-shelled structure to a clam or mussel. A popular place to gather pipis is Goolwa Beach in South Australia. They are not exclusive to this beach. However, on a nice summer day, Goolwa beach will often be busy with swimmers, surfers and people gathering cockles.

Cockles are used as bait in South Australia and are excellent for catching King George whiting. They are also delicious, steamed in white wine and garlic or cooked in rich marinara sauce. I use them in this seafood chowder for that little touch of something different.

We are currently visiting family and friends in Adelaide, South Australia, and really, what is more Australian, more South Australian and more Goolwanian than a day at the beach gathering cockles…. not much. Dwayne, myself, our boys and a bunch of our friends spent the day at the beach. While I found it challenging to get in the cold water like the rest of them, surfing and boogie boarding, I did manage to get in deep enough to start hunting for cockles.

Table of Contents

Collecting & Preparing the Cockles

Collecting the cockles is very simple. You simply dig your feet into the sand. As the water washes around your feet and the wave ebbs, the sand is washed away, and your feet sink deeper into the sand. When you feel the cockles beneath your feet, bend and scoop them up. Put the cockles into a bucket or esky (i.e. chilly bin, cooler, icebox). The cockles must then be encouraged to purge or spit out all their sand. The purging occurs when the cockles are kept in the bucket or an esky with fresh, clean seawater for at least 24 hours. This is easy if you are near a beach and can replenish and freshen the seawater regularly.

Seafood Chowder

Ingredients

50g butter
2 slices bacon, finely chopped
1 large leek, finely sliced
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup plain flour
4 cups fish stock
500g white fish, chopped into cubes
400g prawns, peeled
1kg Goolwa cockles
250ml cream
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
Salt and cracked black pepper
4-6 bread rolls

Method

To make a bread roll serving bowl.

Slice the top off each bread roll and set it aside to use as the lid. Dig out the inner, soft bread and bake the rolls, and their lids, in a moderate oven until they are hard & crispy (about 10-15 minutes).

For the chowder

Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Added the bacon and cooked over low heat for about 5 minutes. Add onion, carrot, celery, and potato; cook for 5 minutes or until softened (do not brown).

Add the flour and cook for one minute. Gradually add the fish stock and cook while stirring for about five minutes or until the mixture begins to boil and thicken. Simmer over low heat for another five minutes uncovered while stirring occasionally.

Add the seafood and simmer while stirring occasionally. Add cream and simmer for about 5 minutes without letting it boil. Season with salt and cracked pepper, and mix through the chopped parsley.

Ladle the soup between the toasted rolls and serve immediately.

Note: I have made this recipe with fish and lobster that we caught while camping at Canunda National Park, and I have used fish, scallops and squid from a catch at Stansbury while anchored there. At home, I have used a marinara mix or a mix of prawns, fish, scallops and mussels. Any mix of seafood is great in this chowder.