Oh Yea, More Mussels!
I’m already sick of the damn things, but its better than conch. I couldn’t deal with the rubberbands of the sea, so I released my catch back into the wild. Sure in a real survival situation I wouldn’t have done that, I still have the luxury to pick and choose. My tip off that they weren’t going to work should have been when my grandmother told me she cooks them in a pressure cooker for several hours.
So its back to mussels and seaweed. At least I found a cleaner bunch than yesterday. I did some investigating and found a new spot:
I might never eat a mussel again after this….at least not without butter or bread crumbs.
Its two dozen mussels for dinner. I was smart enough this time to get them early and start soaking them in fresh water to get the grit out. Yesterday was like eating a gravel road, not fun.
Besides, I don’t want another incident like this afternoon. One more of those and I might have to tap out.
June 11th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I actually love conch…and when I was in Belize they used to cook them right there on the keys, so I don’t believe you necessarily have to cook them for hours in a pressure cooker. Then again, LI Conch could be different from Belize conch. Thanks for providing me much needed entertainment & breaks as I painfully study for the bar…I’d much rather be in your shoes, seriously. For you it’s only a week…not months of hell!
June 11th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I love this. I would like to buy a ticket to the Galbosphere when you are done. Better yet… tell us what you want for dinner and you can sit around our campfire and tell us harrowing tales of survival over cantuccini and vin santo. Mrs D said: send him a kiss from me……idiot!
Buona fortuna!
June 11th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Cooking the conch……
Good conch should be white with pink and orange edges. Avoid conch with a grayish color. Like other seafood, conch should not smell fishy. If there are any dark pieces of skin, trim them off. Because of its firm texture, conch needs to be tenderized before being cooked. This can be accomplished by placing the meat between pieces of plastic wrap and giving it a good pounding with a mallet. How much is too much? Don’t beat it to a pulp — smooth and flatten it to the desired thickness.
When it comes to cooking conch, treat it like squid: either barely cook it, or cook the heck out of it. After heating briefly, conch will begin to toughen until essentially inedible. However, after being cooked for a while (simmered for about an hour in a stew, for example) the conch will become tender again.
FYI - If you continue to get the runs it might be time to bail
June 12th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Your intestinal distress may be casued by your favorite staple- the mussels. Growing up out there I always was told DO NOT eat mussels with ridged shells- that they will make you sick.
Otherwise, good luck and happy hunting!
June 12th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Upon further investigation (i.e. googling) it seems you can eat them, but if gathered at low tide they retain bacteiral toxins that could be casuing your runs…juding by your photo, it appears that you’re harvesting them at low tide, when they’re above water. Try harvesting them after they’ve been submerged for a while and have had a chance to flush their system.