The appearance is not the most inviting and reassuring, halfway between a prehistoric animal and a monster without testsstraight out of a Jurassic Park movie, it looks like a menacing hoofed hand protruding from the rock by the sea ready to snatch you. In Italy they are practically unknown, as well as in the rest of Europe, yet they are crustaceans of great flavour, a deep taste of the sea and, despite their leathery appearance, with tender flesh like that of a prawn.
Theirs scientific name is Pollicipes pollipes but they are called everywhere Barnacles. They are born and grow clinging to dangerous areas cliffs of Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. This rare, delicious and very expensive species of shellfish in fact, it needs extremely oxygenated and cold waters and only the violence of the Atlantic waves that lash these coasts, with waves that can sometimes even reach 20 meters, ensures its development.
Those of best quality si found mainly in the Spanish region of Galicia, north of Portugal, where they are hand-picked by the percebeiros. Their collection is not only difficult but very dangerous. because the percebes are perched on the high cliffs but a few meters above the water level. Those born at the top are eaten by birds, those born below sea level are instead coveted by fish that feed on crustaceans.
It's a treacherous fight. The Percebeiros have to lower themselves with long ropes along the cliffs overlooking the sea and fight with high and violent waves to tear these crustaceans from the rock. And several times it happened that they lost their lives.
Unfortunately, the history of these countries is full of lives torn from families, a heavy price paid by Galician fishermen and beyond. What is certain is that here the waves are more ferocious than ever. The rocks are fixed with many crosses that recall the many shipwrecks that have taken place, ancient and even in modern times, they speak of shipwrecks, ancient but not only. Twenty years ago the tanker Prestige broke in two causing an ecological disaster of enormous proportions. And the sacrifice of the Percebeiros is remembered with a monument on the square of Corme, a village in the province of A Coruña.
The reason for so much sacrifice is in the rarity of these crustaceans which on the spot cost an average of 50 - 60 euros per kilo, a price that increases considerably during the Christmas holidays and the end of the year, reaching a price of 150 euros as they are in great demand on the markets gourmet and starred chefs.
To consume them, just immerse them for two-three minutes in boiling water. Then the "monstrous" fingers are rotated to detach the meat, which slips off easily. What is extraordinary about percebes is not only the taste but also the fact that unlike other crustaceans they have a low cholesterol content. The energy value is also limited, while the calcium, iron and iodine content is good. On the table, as well as blanched with a squeeze of lemon, they are also used accompanied by an aioli sauce, the typical Provençal sauce with garlic, very similar to mayonnaise which is obtained by chopping or pounding garlic cloves in a mortar and adding some egg yolks. egg, lemon juice, salt, white pepper and a drizzle of oil, just like for the traditional preparation of mayonnaise. But there are also those who boil them in salted water scented with bay leaf and garlic and those who then use them in layers, alternating blanched turnip tops, tomatoes and creamed potatoes
In short, it is gold for the small Galician villages but also for the Portuguese villages on the Atlantic coast and for the fishing communities of Morocco, where, however, the quality of the percebes drops considerably.
Obviously, given the high price, poaching is rampant along the entire Atlantic cliffs and is fought as we do with sea dates.
