Barnacles - Spanish Gooseneck Barnacles

Dirk's email flyer has these barnacles at $32lb.

I am curious about these.

Anyone cook barnacles at home before? Any suggestions as to method(s) if so?

It appears boiling primarily followed by broiling seem to be the methods that I've seen most in recipes I've looked up.

Willie,

If you can get your hands on a copy of the Seashore Issue of Lucky Peach (the current issue), there is a recipe for Barnacles in the Basket along with a good story about them. Let me know if you have a hard time finding the issue. You're more than welcome to borrow mine.

HI,

A friend's Mother scrapes them off a dock and eats them raw. Apparently a free and tasty treat, I have never tried them.

Regards,

You can find some more information and pictures on LTH (and elsewhere) under percebes. In Spain, I've eaten them raw, and boiled* with aromatics or simply with seawater. I don't think there is any point to sauces as in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxIsdWAm9TY

but I link it because it shows the terrain and animals beautifully, and because GR's "peth-a-bess" is endearing. *It is true that the Our Father (Pater Noster, Padre Nuestro) is a common unit of cooking time in Spain, and does show up in percebes recipes:

http://cocericantar.blogspot.com/2013/0 ... brico.html

Cantabria is of course cradle to the city of Santander. Percebes are also sold canned in brine - I've never tried them that way. In the absence of fresh seaweed and local sea salt in Illinois, I'd guess simple salted water, maybe with bay or fresh herbs, though that's not the point when they're local, for less than a minute, would be the way I'd go.

Here are two New York Times articles on the trade of collecting them, something dangerous (at least to New York Times Hemmingwannabees):

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/29/trave ... acles.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/16/world ... iving.html

Good video in second link.