The joys of seafood foraged on childhood holidays – plus a recipe to savour

Seafood foraging and sunburned suppers remind me of holidays on Tiree – and the are inspiration for this Iberian pasta dish

Foraging is eco-friendly and anthropologically authentic, but the under-reported (and best) thing about it is that the adrenaline expense of obtaining a food is directly proportionate to the pleasure you get from eating it. I learned this early on, when my mother took me and my siblings to climb the slimy beams under the old ferry pier at Scarinish on the island of Tiree to pick mussels.

These grow below the tideline, so the Atlantic waves washed around our ankles – or our thighs, depending on the sea state. Our mother encouraged us to go when the daily car ferry wasn’t actually docking. But that was chiefly so other tourists wouldn’t spot us and get the same idea.