Care for a Pinky?
We stopped for lunch at a sort of cafeteria/bar in
northern Spain, on our way to Santiago de
Compostela. While browsing at the food display, I
saw a very weird thing. It looked like thin rocky
fingers, a gray hand, with twisted digits sticky
up. It looked like something the Klingons on Star
Trek eat. I asked, "Que es eso?" pointing to the
things. "Percebes" was the reply. "Como lo
como?" I inquired--how do I eat them? The
agreeable fellow at the counter broke one off and
handed it to me. Inside was a grayish-pink finger
of meat. I tasted it: sweet and salty, rich and
delicious. I ordered a serving. It was
expensive, at least seven dollars for full hand,
but they were very wonderful, despite their weird
taste. One had to break off each finger, and suck
out the meat. At Santiago, I discovered they are
a Galician delicacy, a kind of barnacle that grows
on the cliffs of the Bay of Biscay, often imported
from Brittany. I like weird food, and this sticks
in my mind as one of the weirdest I encountered in
Europe.
--Ronald
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