At a dimly lit hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Lisbon, I’m elated to find gooseneck barnacles on the menu. Enjoyed in this region of the world, percebes are generally under two inches long, with a fleshy body and pieces of shell that lead to a point on one end. Boiled and tossed in butter, they’re sweet, with a satisfying chew, similar to a razor clam.
Tender and delicious, gooseneck barnacles are expensive. Rui Franco, a professional shellfish gatherer based in Ericeira, a fishing town and premier surfing destination on the western coast of Portugal, explains that prices can vary greatly depending on quality, size and season. Generally, he sells barnacles for about 10 euros per kilogram, about $5 a pound.
“However, in a good seafood restaurant in Madrid or Barcelona, it can go for up to 500 euros per kilogram,” he says. It’s really no wonder when you hear how the delicacy is harvested. “Barnacles live and grow in the intertidal zone, between high tide and low tide, in the area where there is the most swell,” Franco explains.
“The higher the tide, the more oxygen there is, and they tend to settle.” Shellfish gatherers, in a risky endeavor, have to extract them from the rocks. “They breed in the areas with the biggest waves, in the part of the sea that has that white, crashing foam,” he adds.
Gooseneck barnacles earned their English name for two reasons. First, they have a long, muscular stalk that arguably resembles a goose’s long neck. And secondly, hu.