Man
and Mollusc's Data Base of Edible
Molluscs
Conch-L Listserve Comments
There is no specific order to the dates or comments listed on this page. The list is alphabetized by the sender's last name only. If I have used your comment/s and as yet have not asked for your permissiom, please forgive and contact me at avrilb@telus.net
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Dr. David Campbell Letter #1 of interest In general, if it is big enough the animal may be eaten, and even smaller species might be used if it is not too much effort to get a sufficient amount of meat to be worthwhile. I do not know of any mollusks known to be inherently toxic for consumption, but some nudibranchs take up stinging cells from the cnidarians they eat, and certain species might be more of a risk than others for food poisoning. Some also can be rather tough, requiring a lot of cooking effort. Mollusca: The Southern Synthesis reports excessive harvesting of oyster reefs (dead or alive) for lime as an historical problem, but I believe most modern non-shellcraft industrial use of shells (for gravel, antacids, lime in mortar or cement, etc.) relies on shells harvested for other purposes. It is cheaper to offer to take away what the fishermen are dumping than to dredge for yourself. _______________________________________________________________ Letter #2 of interest I have a set of articles on human-mollusk interaction, the author of which I do not remember. One potential hazard of eating large chitons and other large grazers is that the radulas may be indigestible. Eating too many may produce the equivalent of a rather rough hairball, which is not good for the tummy. Information added Dec. 04, 2001: "The radula story is from a two part article by Alan Solem on mollusks and health... It is indirectly supported by the radulas left by the locals along with chiton and Cittarium shells that I saw on San Salvador Island, Bahamas." _________________________________________________________________ Letter #3 of interest: OK, this one is about brachiopods, but I thought that it was very interesting and close enough, so I included it! (Avril Bourquin) Do not eat articulate brachiopods. This can provide a useful proof of the advantages of having some knowledge of conchology. I heard a story about a biologist in the Puget Sound area who was collecting with a non-biologist friend. He found one of the local articulates and tried to explain the difference between bivalves and brachiopods. The friend derided this as intellectual pretension, swallowed it raw to prove his point, and turned somewhat green. Inarticulate brachipods, however, are not unusual as a human dietary item in Asia. Brachiopods are moderately distant relatives of mollusks. Along with annelids and other, more obscure, worms, plus a few other phyla, the molllusks and brachipods make up the group Trochozoa or Lophotrochozoa. Arthropods, nematodes and certain other worms are more distant relatives, as is the echinoderm-vertebrate group. I believe that some of the Field Guide to the Seashore types of books have the common Newfoundland brachiopod identified in them. My books are at home. Recent workers have found differences between the earliest lingulide brachiopods and more modern ones, so Lingula is not quite so long-lived as many references claim. It still has respectable antiquity, but many protobranch bivalve genera are probably at least as old. Dr. David Campbell "He had
discovered an unknown bivalve, forming a new genus"-E. A. Poe,
The ________________________________________ From Dr. David Campbell December 04, 2001 privately and not n Conch-L: "Miscellaneous additional notes: Many species of mollusks have been used as food by local cultures. Gary Rosenberg's Encyclopedia of Seashells has some discussion of this. Tridacna spp. and Codakia sp. are the ones I immediately recall seeing in the market in the Philippines. I have an article in a Philippine journal on commecially important bivalves; I will try to remember to look it up. The Vokes at Tulane have a paper on archaeological mollusks from Yucatan, including both food and ceremonial use. Here along the east coast of the U.S., huge mounds of oyster shells are not uncommon, evidently popular with native and colonist alike. Although some archaeologists have thought that finding closed bivalve shells indicated strictly ceremonial use, some species open when cooked and close when cooled. Dr. David Campbell That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted
Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at
Droigate Spa |
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Marian E Havlik I'd
never eat a UNIONID (freshwater mussel) today, unless I was starving.
Remember, they filter anything that comes past them, so unless I could
"cleanse" them in running tap water for about a week, I sure
wouldn't eat them, unless I was very sure of where they came from (agricultural
runoff, cattle in streams etc). People often ask me about this. Even
the local poison control center has called me a number of times. I've
been told they're tough, and that the best way to cook them is to chop/grind
them up in chowder.
Regardless, I'd prefer to eat the adductors ("scallops"),
but have never done so. For the same reasons, I don't eat oysters or
marine mussels. |
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Dr. Patty Jansen Here,
you get the ordinary mussels (Perna viridis), oysters, 'clams' (some
type of venerid), pipis (Donax deltiodalis, although these are more
frequently used for bait than human consumption), Tonna variegata and
relatives, abalone (number of species), and I have seen people eat Turbos,
and (although they are not shells) the insides of sea urchins.
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David Kirsh Letter 1: Dear mussel lovers and experts, Perna viridis Linne. It's been on my mind. It's an important commercial foodsource in Asia. I have a valve I found on a reef in the Phuket Sea in Thailand. It's approximately 17.5cm in length; huge. Kev Lamprell is certain that it's an undescribed species. Others believe it's likely to be a very mature Perna viridis and that mature specimens are not commonly encountered because they're harvested much earlier. A simple way of eliminating the P. viridis possibility would be if there's data on how large it grows--record size. Surely in all the literature about an important commercial species, there is something about maximum size. A cursory search in very recent literature at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences reveals nothing. Anybody have data? Thanks, _________________________________________________________ Letter #2 of interest: OK, this one is about brachiopods, but I thought that it was very interesting and close enough, so I included it! (Avril Bourquin) Shellfish eaters, I
had my first taste of brachiopods in Thailand when I rode on the back
of a My guide, Bu Pha, took me to the stilt house of a friend. She motioned to me to try eating something from a metal bowl. In the bowl, it looked like a pile of dirty fingernails with worms coming from the center. She opened one and ate it raw. I did likewise. I preferred accepting that hospitality to drinking the local water offered to me. Not bad. Has anyone else
tried brachiopods, raw or otherwise? Can they be eaten David Kirsh |
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Culinary conchology (malacology?) is one of my favorite topics (it's almost lunch time here). The whole scallop animal is customarily eaten in dishes from the N Mediterranean cuisine sensu latu (i.e., France, Spain, Portugal, and global ramifications of these cultures) and possibly in many other areas of the world where folks are more culturally oriented toward consumption of seafood. The whole thing tastes just like... scallop! I enjoyed a great dish of (many, whole) _Argopecten purpuratus_ baked in a sauce of garlic butter and cream while in Coquimbo, Chile (E Pacific) last year. No, you won't find this in Red Lobster!
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Harry G. Lee In April, 1987 I read an account in a Kotakinabalu (insular Malaysia) newspaper of a family who ate an unspecified number of an Oliva species harvested from shallow N. W. Borneo waters and became ill as a result. At least one fatality was attributed to poisoning. The report sounded quite authoritative. I doubt that this was paralytic shellfish poisoning (dinoflagellate contamination). There is a substance called "saxitoxin" which accounts for human illness following the consumption of certain Neptunea species occurring in Japanese waters. It is localized in the salivary glands of these snails. Likewise, Mediterranean muricid snails and relatives have a salivary toxin known to cause human illness, even death, after ingestion (yet many, many people eat these shellfish without ill effects). This is murexine, which is chemically better studied than most marine biotoxins. It's very closely associated with the purple pigment of Phoenician maritime commerce, etc. Also the Mediterranean sea hare has been incriminated in human poisoning since Pliny's report in the first century A. D. Again, the toxin is associated with the salivary apparatus and probably is important in predation. Abalone viscera, at least in Japan, have caused human illness after ingestion. I guess the best strategy for the human molluscivore is to leave snail viscera on the plate if there is any question as to safety. I, for one, have eaten dozens of marine snail species but never felt the slightest urge to eat any parts but the mantle and foot. Added December
01, 2001: The following comment: Harry G. Lee oo .--. oo .--.
oo .--. |
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Bob Lipe I'm one of those
people that make a living with seashells. I just want to say that I
know a lot of the mollusk are used for food. I wished they all could
be, but not so. Anyway, We have about 12 different Scallops in our bins
that are used for food, and then for craft. The Livona
pica "Magpie" in the Caribbean are used for food and
then the shells are sent to Mexico to be polished and sent back to the
states to sell in shops. More of these food shells are being done this
way now. In the Bahamas not only do you see large piles of pink conchs,
but many discared Livona pica. |
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| Ross Mayhew
Pectinidae are my all-time favorite family so far as shells go, but i picked up a few things from the fishermen i used to go out on wild adventures with regarding their culinary aspects as well. For our Placopecten magellanicus, and no doubt some other Pecten spp as well, the adductor muscle is the only part of the beast that doesn't present the possibility of poisoning, from paralytic shellfish poison (ie, demoic acid secreted by dinoflagellates, i think - is this correct?), which is the "dark side" of eating mollusc-flesh. When Placopecten is grown in "cultured" surroundings, where it pick up the Paralytic shellfish poison bug, it is often eaten as oysters are - "down the hatch", whole!!, or just sold as a whole animal for consumption. Bon Apetit, |
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Paul Monfils Letter #1 of interest While we are
still engrossed in culinary conchology, let me ask a question I have
always wondered about. In the "clam"
tribe and the "mussel" tribe, we eat everything but the shell.
Yet in the many species of the "scallop" tribe that are used
as human food, only one small piece, the adductor muscle that holds
the two shell valves together, is eaten. This seems like an awful
waste. Why is this so? Is it simply (as someone mentioned earlier) that
the rest of a scallop just doesn't taste good? _____________________________________________________________________ Letter #2 of interest Busycon
(carica and canaliculatum) are used in a tasty dish available at many
restaurants and delis in this area. The
english name is snail salad. It has an Italian name too, but if I try
it I'll probably pick the wrong one. It's a mixture of thin-sliced Busycon
meat (primarily the foot) with spices, vinegar, onions, celery, and
probably a few things I don't know about. I believe the meat is marinated,
but that's about all I know of it. I eat it but I don't make it. |
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Bob & Rosemary Nuelle When I traveled in Hong Kong back in 1998 the seafood restaurants offered the following species for dinner. You selected your entree from a large number of tanks arranged in 3 high tiers and then they cooked them up for you. Entrees:
The UniverShell Trading Company 3523 Beech Hill Drive Spring, TX 77388 WEBSITE: http://www.univershell.com |
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Rafael María Puertas Rey: (Fali ) I've been to the fish market in Málaga today. Just to have a look. I've been 'lucky': among the quite common and often sold Dosinia exoleta, I could find Arcopagia crassa, Laevicardium oblongum, L. crassum, Acanthocardia paucicostata and Glycymeris pilosa. But that's not really the point. Suddenly, the strong voice of a fishmonger called my attention. ¡Caracolas! -he shouted. Then, an even stronger "Alive, from Málaga!" followed. I turned back my head, and what did I find? Surprisingly, the famous, 'protected' Charonia lampas. Mediterranean, no doubt. (If we asume Málaga is a Mediterranean city.) They were sold by the dozens at four fish shops, and hardly any of them reached six inches (15 cm)! Years ago, some of the items sold measured nearly twelve inches, or even more. In general terms, the average was almost the double in lenght. So, we have here the old controversy again. If this species is in danger and thus must be protected, who is to blame then? Collectors? Not really. Many people at the market place were buying them: they wouldn't say no to the chance of enjoying this delicacy. I wasn't able to utter a single word ("Protected...?!" -they would laugh at me, obviously), took my humble bivalves and my thoughtful way back home. All the best,
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E. Guillot de
Suduiraut We eat any kind of Conus including C.gloriamaris. But the best dish is Pectinidae with garlic and little butter cooked in the oven.
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Sophie Valtat Letter #1 of Interest I must confess I've never paid attention to pickled molluscs, I do remember mussels that's all. French people are not so found of pickles. I think even the mussels are in white wine, not vinegar.About periwinkles, sure we do eat Littorina littorea very often. It's called here "bigorneau". You can almost always find them in the fish shops. To boil them in salted water, it very quickly done and so tasty ! _________________________________________________________________ Letter #2 of Interest Well, as the only French girl around (am I ?) I feel I have to answer .... ! To prepare snails you have first to starve (jeûner) them. I must confess I've never done it myself, but I've seen my grandmother doing it. So, that's what she used to do: In the garden she had a little paddock (enclosure) where she put the snails she was able to find. When there were enough snails (a minimum is 12 per person), she stops feeding them for a week "nobody knows what they could have eaten" and them feed them with flour for a few days "to be fatty". Then she put them in the salt till they stop drooling, clean them and cook them in a court bouillon (water, white wine, parsley, little garlic, onion, thyme, salt, pepper...). When you can take them out of the shell,they are cooked. Take them off, eliminate the entrails, the brown part at the end (if you leave it, it's bitter) and the operculum. The first part is over. You
have then to mix butter (take it out of the refrigerator one hour before)
chopped garlic and parsley, little salt, pepper. When your butter is
ready, put little butter in a shell, a snail and butter again. You must
then put the snails on a special plate in order to have the aperture
up (if you don't have it, you always find a way !), put everything in
a hot oven in order to have the snails grilled, be careful, if they
stay to long they will be "ratatinés" (shriveled up).
Ouf, it's ready ! Eat them with good bread and dry white wine. To answer your question, yes it still have the taste of snails which is delicious ! They are several other way to accommodate snails. Last weekend I eat some in a restaurant from the south of France, they where not put back in shells but sautés (cooked in a pan) with little vegetables. They are other kinds of shells you can accommodate the way my grand mother did, mostly bivalves. Two weeks ago I've done palourdes farcies (stuffed), may I say it was more interesting than the snails? It's much easier because you don't have to starve the animal, just fish them if you are in Bretagne, or have a good "poissonnier" (the guy who sells the fish). Then you do a kind of garlic butter slightly different than the one my grand mother did and melted (fondu), foamy. Put it on each palourdes you've just open, add little almond powder and take it a few minutes to the grill. There is something magic in this recipe because the sea is still so present. If you want the exact proportions for both recipes, let me know, Sophie PS : I don't think the reason why my grand mother have less and less snail in her garden comes from her consumption but from the use of pesticide in order to save her salad from slugs (not eatable, in France !). In Paris, sometimes you can buy alive snails in the market, they come from breedings. __________________________________________________ Letter #3 of Interest I'm afraid French people use to eat not only the muscle but also the orange part of the scallop, at least when we cook them (we don't eat this part raw). For the rest of the animal... I'll try and let you know ! __________________________________________________ There is no problem to use anything I've send on the Conch list ! About cooking, if you are interested in I can write something more precise on French way to eat molluscs. We eat them rather often and I can give some family recipes and some more I use to do for mussels, oysters, palourdes (clams)(Tapes), cockles, amandes (almonds)(Glycymeris), scallops, bulots (buccinum), bigorneaux(winkles) (L. littorea)... Just tell me ! Sophie Valtat |
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Frank Walker contacted Years ago (1970's) when I was just a collector I was on a trip to the Philippines. I asked the Philippino I was with, if the natives ate any of the shells. He said, almost all were eaten. When I asked which were not, he said the egg cowrie. When I asked why not, he said they didn't taste good. See how simple life is! It all comes down to if it taste's good or not. Gems
From The Sea |
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Emmanuel
___________________ to be contacted 11 Apr 2000 or I'm a bit confused as to the author/s of this entry. I'm unable to trace it The Italians eat all the animal(in regards to scallops). Very good grilled. Pecten jacobaes is a specialiy. Like veal. Then you can get Mytilus galloprovincialis, Mytilus edulis, Ostreidae, Veneridae, Callista chione, Chamelea gallina, eg. It's nice to go to fishmarkets and you will find a lot of edible species. Few days a go I was in Balicasag and I have an opportunity to eat Acesta rathbuni and Siratus alabaster, the Acesta was absolutely delicious like scallop. The alabaster the taste is ok but like a rubberband. Emmanuel
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Short
Comments
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| In Okinawa, green snail is eaten in various ways and is considered to be superior to abalone |
| Ceviche or seviche is best known as a dish made from fish, but Lambis truncata is often prepared in a very similar manner in Egypt--cut into thin strips, and marinated for a few hours in lime juice, onions and garlic. Delicious! But I still think it's tough! |
| In Venezuela they eat just about anything except Cypraea mus. |
| With a clam, just cook it and eat it as is -- no need to discard anything but the shell. |
Is there
a website for health advisories on clams/shellfish in
particular localities?
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November , 2001
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