Kent is surrounded on all sides by sea and from the sea comes a rich harvest of seafood that has been gathered for thousands of years. The county has a variety of coastlines, from wide mudflats to the famous chalk cliffs, and each type of coast provides its own particular type of shellfish.

Whitstable has always been the centre of the oyster fishing industry.

In Roman times, oysters were exported to Italy from here and the wealth and fame of the town in the Middle Ages grew up solely around the oyster trade. The native oyster all but died out in the late 1800s, but today, Pacific or Gigas oysters are farmed in the same area. They are bred in tanks at Reculver and transferred first to nurseries and later to the oyster beds at Seasalter where they grow for three years. Gigas oysters are available all year and, according to many local people, are beginning to acquire the creamy flavour of the original native type.

Further out to sea, off the north Kent coast, cockles are fished by suction dredger. They come into Whitstable Harbour from spring to autumn where they are cleaned, cooked and then removed from their shells by means of cold water sprays.

Whelks, too, come into Whitstable, caught in whelk pots just off shore. At Wests Whelks on the harbour, they are boiled in nets, cooled and shelled by hand. Many of the whelks you will buy in other seaside places first came ashore at Whitstable.

Winkles thrive around the chalk coasts from Birchington to Dover, particularly at St. Margaret's Bay, where they cling to rocks that are exposed at low tide.

The small brown shrimp is a Kent speciality, although there are fewer around now as they are being eaten by cod. Shrimps like long, shallow tides and sandy shores. Many are gathered by pushing wide nets through shallow waters at low tide in places such as Dungeness and the stretch from Whitstable to the Swale. Others are caught further out by beam trawl.

The best crabs come from the chalk coasts that centre a round Ramsgate. They are caught offshore in square pots that also act as a lure for lobsters, and most are cooked as soon as they reach the harbour.

Lobsters are plentiful around the Kent coast but many go up to the London markets. Like crabs, most of them come from the chalk coasts, but some are caught between Whitstable and Herne Bay.

Many of the recipes below were first devised for cookery demonstrations at the Whitstable Oyster Festival, where I have been known to cook over 300 oysters in one day.

Search for these Kentish recipes:

Oysters with Bacon and Watercress
Oyster Soup
Cockles and Limes
Beef and Cockle Stew
Whelks in Garlic Butter
Winkles on Toast
Potted Shrimps and Haddock