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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

Difficulty: • • • • •

Time: 1h00

Hot Coals
You can get both kinds of shellfish throughout most of the year, but they are best from late fall until early summer. Cockles are sweeter than clams and have more meat; clams have a more pronounced taste. The shells should smell of fresh seawater when you buy them. If they have an unpleasant smell and the bag is slimy when you grab it, don’t buy them.

Rinsing the sand from between the shells is very important. You can do this by soaking them in clean, salted water before cooking. The shells will open up and spit out the sand. This recipe can easily be ruined by getting sand between your teeth when you eat the shellfish. We sometimes ask our fishmonger to place a net of shellfish in the lobster basin overnight. That way you get them super clean.

TEMPERATURE
425°F (220°C)

SERVES 4 AS A STARTER

Posted by Abrams • Published 30th August 2015 • See Abrams's 43 projects » © 2024 Jeroen Hazebroek / Abrams · Reproduced with permission. · Hot Coals by Jeroen Hazebroek and Leonard Elenbaas, published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang. Photography © 2014 Saskia van Osnabrugge

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Rachel W. added Grilled Clams And Cockles to Beach Party 17 Apr 15:42
Abrams published her project Grilled Clams And Cockles 30 Aug 06:00

Step 1
Dissolve the salt in 2 quarts (2 L) of clean water and divide it between two containers.
Step 2
Place each kind of shellfish in a container with the salted water. Let them rest for at least 15 minutes, then rinse them twice under running water.
Step 3
Fire up the kamado with the grid to 425°F (220°C) and create three hot spots. Place the grill wok on the grid and wait until it is hot.
Step 4
Place the clams in the wok first as they usually need a little longer to open up than the cockles. Place the cockles in the wok about half a minute later and close the lid.
Step 5
Check after about 2 minutes whether all the shells are open by stirring them with a slotted spoon or tongs. If you like your shellfish nearly raw, take the wok out of the kamado once they’ve just opened up. If you want them cooked thoroughly, grill them for another 1 to 2 minutes. When you grill them for too long, you risk the meat becoming tough.
Step 6
Scoop the shellfish into a deep bowl. Season them with a grind of pepper and sprinkle them with the parsley. The shellfish remain quite salty during cooking, so there’s no need to add salt.

TIP
This is a basic recipe that can, of course, be varied endlessly with garlic oil, dressings and mayonnaises.