page_title: Cuisine of Gower
section_title: Fish and seafood
hierarchical_section_title: Cuisine of Gower / Fish and seafood
caption_attribution_description: English: Laverbread for sale in Swansea Market
context_page_description: The cuisine of Gower, a peninsula in south Wales, is based on ingredients grown, raised or collected on or around the peninsula. The cuisine is based on fresh ingredients with recipes based around a fish or meat dish. Until the twentieth century, the peninsula was virtually cut off from other markets due to poor roads, and no rail connection. The result was that Gower became self-sufficient in food.
  Gower people also developed their own dialect of English, known as the Gower dialect, and their own traditions, which have since died out. The population of the peninsula was employed in agriculture, fishing, labour on the farms and larger country estates, weaving and, in the north, coal mining and cockling. With the expansion of motorized transport and road improvements, Gower became a popular tourist destination. Many residents now travel from Gower to work in the nearby city of Swansea. Much of the agricultural produce is now sold at Swansea Market, local farmers' markets, and further afield.
context_section_description: Laverbread (Welsh: bara lawr) is made from the seaweed porphyra umbilicalis]. The seaweed is purplish-black and found strewn throughout the intertidal area of Gower, particularly the upper levels. It is more common in the winter period, from late autumn onwards, where the rocks are near, or overlain with, sand. This seaweed can be found on most of the rocky beaches of Gower; it appears to be in greater volume, probably because it is less frequently collected for laverbread than before. Traditionally, it is boiled for hours to render it into a thick puree. It is sold in Swansea Market but, if gathered fresh, it can be deep-fried into tasty crisps. Other recipes include laverbread breakfast cake, laverbread and cockle pâté, laverbread with streaky bacon, and laverbread with mashed potato. There are still some small producers of Gower laverbread, but larger quantities are sourced from the west coast of Scotland. A Gower breakfast can comprise griddled bacon with cockles, laverbread and baked eggs.
  Crabbing (which also collectively includes lobstering) was a traditional Gower craft. The true crabber used only his hands to pull out crabs from holes that he knew so well that he could find them at night. A hook, traditionally made from the back of a worn out scythe, was used only for difficult and deep-seated crabs. Each crabber used to have a personal area of rocks to work from, and handed his knowledge down through the family, with youngsters learning the crab holes by carrying the sacks for an elder. Legendary Gower crabbers, working before the Second World War, included Margaret Ann Bevan, of High Priest, and Johnny "Crab" Beynon, of Fernhill. Margaret Ann wore hob-nailed boots without laces, a long skirt, which she threw over her shoulder to keep out of the water, and no knickers. She waded out to the crab holes before they were fully uncovered by the tide to save time. Gower is washed by the Bristol Channel, which has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world; this exposes large expanses of rocks and sand at low tide, and the layered strata of the limestone rock provides many holes and ledges where crabs and lobster hide. The best crabs are caught under ledges. Welsh lobster fishermen often catch crabs as a by-catch, but a hen crab can have delicately flavoured dark meat. When buying crabs, it is best to select a smaller specimen that is heavy for its size, and has a solid, firm shell. Crab makes a good soup, especially in season, when they are relatively cheap. They also make fish cakes, croustade and stew. Crabs and lobsters can be bought at Swansea Market. The cock lobster is best used for salads, as it has large claws containing succulent meat. Hen lobster is better for dishes with sauces, as the roe inside gives great depth to the flavour of sauces.
  North Gower is famous for cockles. Families from the villages of Crofty and Penclawdd have been working the cockle beds of the Burry Inlet for generations. The cooked cockles are then sold in Swansea and are one of the specialities of Swansea Market Cockles are removed from the sand when the beds are exposed at low tide. The cockle gatherers follow the receding tide and, while the mud is covered by a very shallow layer of water, they gather the cockles by hand, raking them out of the sand assisted by a "scrape". This is a curved metal blade with a handle. This is used for breaking the surface of the sand. The work is done in all weathers, with starts as early as 3am in the summer.
  Originally, the cockles were collected by a donkey pulling a flat cart, this was replaced by pony and flat cart, and nowadays a Land Rover is used. Gathering cockles is regulated by "The Burry Inlet Cockle Fishery Order, 1965". Two grades of cockles are gathered: "boiling" cockles are smaller and cooked locally before being taken to market; "shell" cockles are larger and obtained by more intensive sieving, using larger-meshed sieves on the cockle beds. Cockles need to be thoroughly washed clean, and cooked, so it is best to buy them from a cockle producer. Fresh cockles should be soaked in a 
caption: Laverbread and cockles on sale at Swansea Market
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