Cockle – Cockles

Hjertemusling, Cockles from the Limfjord

Fangst’s Hjertemusling are cockles from the Danish Limfjord, hand-shucked and preserved in rapeseed oil from the island of Bornholm. "Hjertemusling" is Danish for heart clam, named after the shape of its shell. Tender, sweet, festive—a little delicacy in a tin.

Cockles come to you with the Hjertemusling from the Danish producer Fangst: tender, mild, and naturally slightly sweet. The mollusk, Latin name Cerastoderma edule, gets its name from its heart-shaped shell and is considered a fine delicacy in the North. It grows slowly in the cold Limfjord, is shucked in Copenhagen, and gently preserved in cold-pressed rapeseed oil. That is 110g of the sea, ready for your table.

Tender, sweet, a fine delicacy

Cockles taste more delicate and sweeter than blue mussels; the meat is small, tender, and pleasantly firm to the bite, with a mild taste of the sea.

When you open the tin, it smells like the clear ocean—hardly pungent, more fresh. On the palate, the clams are tender with a natural sweetness rarely found so clearly in shellfish, carried by the mild rapeseed oil. If you have only known mussels as mass-produced food, you will discover here just how fine they can be. Tender, sweet, lively.

The cockle owes its name to its shell, which is shaped like a little heart; you can find them on many Nordic beaches. Inside the tin is only the tender meat, cleanly shucked, free of sand and any effort on your part.

On bread, in pasta, for an apéro

Crispbread with a touch of lemon carries the cockles perfectly, or they can be enjoyed straight from the fork as a little appetizer.

This is Nordic tapas: simply open and share. A Nordic-style pasta vongole with garlic, parsley, and a splash of white wine suits them well, or a risotto. If you like blue mussels, try the marinated or smoked blue mussels. A cool white wine or a cider pairs wonderfully with them.

For a festive moment, place them on blinis with crème fraîche and a bit of dill, or serve them over creamy mashed potatoes. That is how you turn a little into something special.

A heart clam from the Limfjord

The cockle is a little treasure in the North, less common on the plate than the blue mussel and a bit more precious.

It grows in the cold, clear water of the Limfjord, the same body of water that holds Denmark's last oyster banks. Rasmus, one of the three founders of Fangst, grew up by such mussel beds; the shellfish is, as Rasmus explains, his old home. In 2018, he founded the producer in Copenhagen with Martin and Mikkel to bring Nordic treasures like this to the tin.

With 53 percent mussel meat, there is plenty of the sea in this tin, plus rapeseed oil and salt. The heart on the label of the golden Fangst tin is a little greeting from the North.

As the crown of a seafood pasta

After opening, the cockles will keep refrigerated for about 2 days. A 110g tin is enough as a fine appetizer for two or as a small luxury for one. As an apéro with a glass of sparkling wine, they shine, or as the crowning touch to a seafood pasta. For Valentine's Day or as a small gift, the cockles are a charming idea.

They have their second act added at the very end of a fish soup or on a bruschetta with tomato and basil. They taste best served chilled, so take them out of the refrigerator just before eating. This is what the North tastes like, at its finest.