The curiosities of food

by P. L. Simmonds

‘The natives of this vicinity have recently begun to offer for sale bottles filled with oysters—not ‘natives’—separated from the shell, and floating in their own liquor. The unlimited supply of this delicious food, obtainable on the coast, now that the natives have acquired a notion of the trade, will enable many, to whom oysters had become things of memory, to renew again ‘the days of auld lang syne.’ The shells are so firmly attached to the rocks, that we do not think it would pay white men to follow this pursuit; at all events, they could not afford to sell the oysters cheap enough for extensive use. But the somewhat rough process adopted by ‘our coloured brethren’ (or rather ‘sisters,’ we believe), though it destroys the beauty of the fish, does not injure its flavour, which we can pronounce to be equal to that of the ‘real native’ of the British seas.’

Mussels are chiefly eaten by the lower classes, but they are also largely employed for bait, which all marine animals will take; some millions of them are used for this purpose at the fishing stations. In one district alone, their value for this object is £13,000.

A choice kind of large mussel, known under the name of Hambleton hookers, is taken out of the sea, and fattened in the Wyre, Lancashire, within reach of the tide.

Some of the mussels found along parts of the South American coasts, especially the Magellanic, and the Falkland Islands, are very large, about six inches long, by three broad. Dr. Pernety, in his Journal of the Voyage to the Malouine islands, says,

‘We more than once attempted to eat some of these, but found them so full of pearls that it was impossible to chew them; the pearls being very hard, endangered the breaking of our teeth, and when they were broken in pieces, they left a kind of sand in the mouth, which was very disagreeable.’

Several species of gapers are used as food, both in Britain and on the Continent, as the Mya arenaria, known to the fishermen about Southampton by the whimsical name of old maids—in some parts of England and Ireland they are much used; and the Mya truncata, which is very plentiful in the northern islands, where it is called Smurslin, when boiled forms a supper dish. Though not so delicate as some of the other shell fish eaten, it is by no means unpalatable.

The scallop was held in high estimation by the ancients, and is still sought for in Catholic countries. The Pecten maximus is frequently used in England. When pickled and barrelled for sale, it is esteemed a great delicacy. Another species, the Pecten opercularis, is employed for culinary purposes in Cornwall, where it is known by the name of frills, or queens. To our list of bivalves may be added the Mactra solida, which is used as food by the common people about Dartmouth, and the Venus pullastra, called by the inhabitants of Devonshire, pullet, and eaten by them.

Large clams and mussels are eaten in the United States, but in the Lower British American Provinces they are principally used as bait for fish. The scallops are also of very large size, and are more commonly eaten than they are with us.

Scalloped oysters, although very dainty eating, are most indigestible.

The business of digging clams is engaged in by a large number of persons on the North American coasts. There are two varieties, distinguished as the hard shell and the soft shell. They are eaten largely in spring, when they are in the best condition. Clams are much prized by persons residing at a distance from the sea coast, and they are frequently sent into the interior, where they meet a ready sale, as they can be sold at a very low price. They are salted and preserved in barrels, and used by fishermen as bait for cod-fish. For many years past the digging and salting of clams for the Boston market has been an important business. These shell-fish abound in the extensive flats at the mouths of some of the rivers. The flats are daily covered by the tide, and afford the feeding ground which the clams require. Clams multiply with astonishing rapidity: they are dug in the winter and spring. The business furnishes employment for men and boys, that in former years were occupied in winter fishing. The work is done, of course, at low water. When the tide is out, on pleasant winter days, one will often see gangs of 10, 20, or 50 men and boys busily employed in turning up the mud on the flats, picking up the clams, and putting them into buckets. The implement which they use is a stout fork with three flat prongs, each about an inch wide, and 10 or 12 inches long. The men go out on the flats in wherries, when the tide is retiring, and push an oar into the mud, and make fast the boat to it, and as soon as the water has left the boat, commence operations. When a bucket is filled, it is emptied into the boat. They continue their work until the tide comes in again sufficiently to float the boat, when they pull to the wharf. On many places on the shores of these flats there are groups of small huts, 10 or 12 feet square, with stone chimnies running up on the outside, furnished within with a small stove and two or three stools for seats. The clams are deposited in these huts, and in those parts of the day when the tide is in, so that the men cannot work out on the flats, and in stormy weather, they are employed in ‘shocking’ them, as it is called, that is, in opening the shell and taking out the clam, which is done with a small stout knife. As the clams are taken from the shell, they are dropped into a bucket; when the bucket is filled, they are emptied into a barrel. Around these huts, it is not uncommon to see heaps of clam shells larger than the huts themselves, the accumulation of the winter’s labour. The clam diggers sell the produce of their labour to traders, who send their teams round to the huts weekly or daily, according to the weather, carry them to their store-houses, and repack and salt them, and head them up in barrels, when they are ready for the market.