"mollusks" news and stories

Our sister blog, Luxist, picked up the story of a Florida couple who received an unexpected year-end bonus, a rare purple pearl.

While enjoying some steamed clams at Dave's Last Resort & Raw Bar with his wife, Leslie, George Brock suddenly bit down on something hard. By now you've guessed that what stopped him midslurp was the aforementioned pearl. It's safe to say that the couple didn't expect anything from their $10 investment other than fresh seafood. Turns out they got much more than that: A gemologist's appraisal pegged the pearl's value at $25,000.

I'm no gemologist, but the last time I checked pearls, purple or otherwise, are found in oysters. I've eaten my share of oysters and clams both raw and cooked. Heck, I've had conch freshly plucked from the clear blue waters of Nassau, and I'm always game for giant clam at the sushi bar. Some might say that I've been lucky to have found only grit and stray bits of shell in my mollusks and not a nasty bug. However, the Brocks' purple pearl and the arrival of 2008 have given me hope. I resolve to eat more mollusks this year, if only for health reasons.

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Summer heat (sans air conditioning) provides a great excuse to lie around the apartment and ponder. Yukari Rymar  feels the sweat bead on her forehead and thinks deep thoughts: "cold showers are great,"  "why hate on freon?" and "I wish it was winter," she murmers  The mercury rises, and deeper she slips, deeper into delirium....

 

 

"Winter in Tokyo , December '91.  I sit under the kotatsu in the living room.  Mama fixes a midday snack in the kitchen.  I watch the cartoon Chibi Maruko-chan.  A commercial for Cup Ramen starring Arnold Schwarzenneger--seriously--comes on the screen, and I turn my attention away in time to see Mama put a dish down on the table.

 

"The plate steams.  It's piled high with deep fried oyster croquettes.  Or as the Japanese call it--kaki fry."