St James is traditionally associated with shellfish. The greatest sign of this is the scallop shell the pilgrims traditionally brought back from Santiago to prove that they'd completed the 'camino'. This shell has now become a general emblem of pilgrimage, a sign that someone is on a journey, or has completed one. Indeed, perhaps we should all wear one of the things permanently, for what is life but a pilgrimage? But enough of such cliches...
James' association with the scallop comes from the legend that when his tomb was being moved from Judea to Galicia by his disciples - for no apparent reason save to set up a lucrative shrine in Spain - they were shipwrecked and James' coffin emerged out of the water absolutely fine, but covered in scallop shells. These shells are of course a common sight on Galician beaches and probably struck many a pilgrim drying off after taking a dip as a nice thing to take home for the wife, or even as a useful thing to use as a cup, bowl or sundry utensil, on the journey home.
In Chambers' Book of Days (Edinburgh, 1868) there is a jolly extract from Erasmus' Pilgrimages which gives an account of the scallop shell. Someone meets a pilgrim (who is clearly not much different from the average package tourist) and the dialogue is thus:
'What country has sent you safely back to us, covered with shells, laden with tin and leaden images, and adorned with straw necklaces, while your arms display a row of serpents' eggs'?'
'I have been to St. James of Compostella,' replies the pilgrim.
'What answer did St. James give to your professions?'
'None; but he was seen to smile, and nod his head, when I offered my presents; and then held out to me this imbricated shell.'
'Why that shell rather than any other kind?'
'Because the adjacent sea abounds in them.'
The pilgrims probably ate the scallops too, abounding as they did in the adjacent sea and in season just in time for St James' feast on 25th July.
Indeed, queen scallops are perfectly in season in the UK at the moment, and so what better than a simple recipe for scallops and bacon? This is one lily that really doesn't need gilding.
Your most important ingredient is a cast iron skillet. Fry strips of good smoked streaky bacon in the skillet, starting on a moderate heat. When the bacon is just starting to crisp set it aside. Fry the scallops in the bacon fat for a couple of minutes, adding a little smoked paprika. Put the scallops on a serving plate, and give the bacon a final frazzle in the pan on high. Add the bacon to the plate and pop on some chopped fresh chilli, and coriander. Serve as a sharing starter... or fry up on a camp stove when stopped for the night on a pilgrimage.
Of course, this year the feast of St James is a Friday - which I didn't think about when preparing this recipe a couple of weeks in advance of blogging - so you could either leave the bacon out or ignore this recipe entirely and go and eat an oyster... Because even though there is no 'r' in the month there is an old proverb which runs that 'whoever eats and oyster on St James' day will never want for money'. I'm certainly up for testing that one out.