There is a gentle irony to the dish coquilles St Jacques: a decadent, rich preparation of one of our most luxurious seafoods takes its name from a saint who has inspired centuries of pilgrimage, and whose emblem came to symbolise modesty.
The eponymous St Jacques is St James the apostle, or James the Great. The scallop shell has long been associated with him, one legend being that St James once rescued a knight covered in scallops; another that when the remains of the saint were retrieved from a shipwreck, the ship – or perhaps even the body itself – was covered in the shells.
A whole scallop is one of the finest things you can possibly eat
The scallop shell has come to represent the pilgrimage to the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, where the saint’s relics are said to be entombed. Scallop shells appear along the pilgrimage route on the Camino de Santiago, marking the way. In earlier times, the scallop shell would be used as a meagre measure at food kitchens along the path. Pilgrims themselves now wear the scallops as a badge of honour, real ones collected hung from backpacks, or sewn-on scallop patches, identifying the wearer as a Camino walker.
The term ‘coquille St Jacques’ really refers to the king scallop itself, as opposed to a specific preparation, but it has also come to mean the serving of the scallop on the half- shell, coated with a white sauce and grilled. Given that the name of the dish is more of a genre than a definitive treatment, it’s not surprising that there are many different ways to prepare coquilles St Jacques.
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