Equinoctial Feasts

The end of March is a significant time for growers and foragers and nowhere is its significance more clearly observed than on the seashore. It is here that we can see with our own eyes how our universe works and it is now that we can taste the result.

When we first came to live on the Sheep's Head we were struck by the Easter sight of wellie-booted locals, with bucket and pike, silhouetted against the light, digging and combing in the silty sandy bays that are carved into our West Cork seascape. We learned that it was a Good Friday tradition to head to the shore. This harked back to times where any Friday saw a meal of fish and Good Friday was a day to revel in it.

Easter and its associated holy days - unlike Christmas - are not fixed to a calendar day, but rather to an event in nature. The festival occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox.

Those shoreline silhouettes, digging at the lower edges of the tide, dig in March (and September) because of a twice-yearly co-operative pull from both the moon and the sun, that draws our tidal lows low and the highs high. These are the Equinoctial tides, when the sun and the moon pull from a position of zero declination, neither north nor south of the celestial equator. What this means in practical terms is that some sea vegetables and shellfish of the subtidal zone become available to any hunter gatherer in an all-too-brief window of low tidal opportunity. It also means the sun is heading back into the Northern Hemisphere, the days will get lighter and the grass will need cutting more often.

The McKennas too have our equinoctial tradition. That is the tradition of going out and searching for razor clams, only not to find them. Not yet anyway, despite much consultation with all our books. We live in hope that this year will be different.

Meanwhile we are anticipating the longer days of sunshine and immersing ourselves in startling space statistics as we ready our kitchen by experimenting with those clams we CAN catch, which this week was the scary-looking common otter clam.

SUN AND MOON FACTS

The moon is 400 times smaller than the sun and exactly 400 times closer to earth. How did that happen? That’s what gives us complete solar and lunar eclipses.

Sunrise time changes by 22 minutes in December and 67 minutes in March. (Source: The Natural Navigator)

The earth is tilted away from the sun by 23.4º This gives us our seasons as the sun appears to travel an orbital plane known as the ecliptic. The point in the imagined celestial sphere where the celestial equator meets the ecliptic is the date of the vernal equinox.

This year the vernal, spring equinox happens on 20 March. Easter Sunday falls on March 31.

A tangential line crossing the light and dark side of the moon will point South - this is simply because the bright side of the moon is lit by the sun to the West, the dark side to the east, and the line in the middle a North South line. (Learned, once again, from The Natural Navigator)

OTTER CLAM FRITTERS

Steam the clams, just until they open. Pull off the leathery trunk that coats the clam’s “foot” to reveal tender clam meat. Remove all the grit and anything you don’t fancy eating. Dip the clam meat first in flour, then beaten egg and finally in breadcrumbs. Shallow fry briefly until the breadcrumb mix toasts and coats.

Serve with lemon juice and soy for a simple treat.