Simple, rustic, and brimming with salty-sweet contrast, it’s a dish born of land and sea — one that tells the story of seaside communities, cockle gatherers, and cast-iron frying pans sizzling with breakfast.
From the Sands to the Skillet
This dish finds its heart in places like Penclawdd on the Gower Peninsula, famous for its cockle industry. For generations, families harvested cockles from the estuary flats, selling them fresh at markets and to travellers across the UK.
The natural pairing? Back bacon, sizzling until crisp, and often a side of laverbread or fried bread, completing what’s affectionately called the “Welsh breakfast.”
What’s in the Dish?
At its simplest, Bacon and Cockles needs only:
Good-quality back bacon
Fresh or prepared cockles (steamed or pre-cooked)
Optional: Laverbread, fried bread, or boiled potatoes
A dab of butter or bacon fat for frying
When fried together, the bacon’s savoury richness perfectly balances the cockles’ briny sweetness.
Traditional and Modern Twists
Traditional Style: Fry bacon, then lightly sauté the cockles in the bacon fat. Serve with laverbread and a thick slice of buttered bread.
Contemporary Versions:
Serve atop toasted sourdough with a Welsh poached egg
Toss cockles through pasta with bacon lardons and leeks
Try a “surf and turf” Welsh breakfast stack with all the trimmings
A True Taste of Wales
You’ll often find Bacon and Cockles served at:
Welsh food festivals and seaside cafés
Farmer’s markets across South Wales
Hotels in Tenby, Aberystwyth, and Swansea, where they’re a highlight on breakfast menus
Recipe: Bacon and Cockles (Serves 2)
Ingredients:
6 rashers of thick-cut back bacon
150g cooked cockles (rinsed and drained if preserved in brine)
1 tsp butter or bacon drippings
Black pepper to taste
Optional: 2 tbsp laverbread, fried bread, or new potatoes
Method:
Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until golden and crisp. Remove and keep warm.
Add a small knob of butter or bacon drippings to the pan.
Add the cockles and toss gently in the hot fat for 1–2 minutes until warmed through.
Serve the bacon and cockles together, with laverbread or fried bread on the side if desired.
Finish with a twist of black pepper and a wedge of lemon if you fancy.
From Tide to Table
Whether served with seaweed and soda bread or reinvented as a chic brunch dish, Bacon and Cockles remains a true culinary bridge between Welsh land and sea — humble, flavourful, and proudly rooted in tradition.
Next up: Leek Soup with Oats — The Farmer’s Bowl.
