Food Crisis Series 4: Shellfish: For a change in diet and taste - nutritious and affordable, too

 Food Crisis Series 4

Shellfish: For a change in diet and taste

- nutritious and affordable, too

Just take heed of certain precautions to ensure good health

and well being.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

avrotor.blogspot.com  

 

Top, local geoduck or luslusi (Ilk) which in our time as kids, would dig on the sandy estuary of Nagtupacan, San Vicente Ilocos Sur.  As I know, we don't have the very large Pacific geoduck (“gooey-duck”-  Panopea generosa), saltwater clam in the family Hiatellidae, such as the one in the lower photo. The common name is derived from a Lushootseed (Nisqually) word. Geoduck grows very big and is known to have a longevity longer than any clam. (Internet photo)  
             
It's a very common food from the sea here in the tropics.  Ilocanos have a simple way of preparing a dish from halaan - from blanching to making tinola.  Halaan clam -  Ruditapes philippinarum (syn. Venerupis phlippinarum) is a saltwater clam, family Veneridae (the Venus clams). Common names for the species include Manila clam,  Japanese cockle and Japanese carpet shell. This clam is commercially harvested, being the second most important bivalve grown in aquaculture worldwide. (Wikipedia)

 

Oyster (Magallana gigas), named after Ferdinand Magellan, and gígās is from the Greek for "giant". It was previously placed in the genus Crassostrea; from the Latin crass meaning "thick", ostrea meaning "oyster". Oysters are found in intertidal and subtidal zones. They prefer to attach to hard or rocky surfaces in shallow or sheltered waters up to 40 m deep. Oysters are popular in the tropics, sold with or without shell. The shell is either pounded or pried open with knife. It is eaten fresh or blanched. Oyster sauce is a favorite item in the supermarket.  

In our time as kids, we would gather oysters attached to bamboo poles in San Sebastian River, in San Vicente Ilocos Sur, the site of the historic Basi Revolt in 1807.  The site has slightly changed, and you still find bamboo stakes to culture the shellfish. Oysters are a special food sought for its aphrodisiac properties. 

To quote an Internet source: "Oysters are extremely rich in zinc, which is essential for testosterone production and maintenance of healthy sperm. And even though women have much less testosterone than men, it also plays a key part in the female libido. Oysters also boost dopamine, a hormone that increases libido in both men and women."

  

 

The Golden Snail, Pomacea canaliculata has practically displaced the indigenous rice field kuhol of the genus Pila (upper photo) traditionally eaten in Southeast Asia (including Thailand and the Philippines) such as Pila ampullacea and Pila pesmei; as well as the liddeg (Ilk) snail Cipangopaludina chinensis (right lower photo).  These are familiar to me as a farmhand and later as agriculturist, prior to the introduction of the golden kuhol in the seventies. Today this foreign species is considered to be in the top 100 of the "World's Worst Invasive Alien Species", and the 40th the worst alien species of gastropod in Europe. The snail is popularly cooked into ginatan (photo).  Precaution is raised against pesticide residue and the possibility as primary route of infection with Angiostrongylus cantonensis, a parasitic nematode. (Internet). 

Perhaps the most common marine shellfish is the Asian green mussel (Perna viridis), also known as the Philippine green mussel or tahong, an economically important mussel, a bivalve belonging to the family Mytilidae. The Asian green mussel is a large bivalve, with a smooth, elongate shell typical of several mytilids or mussels. 

The Department of Health and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) closely monitor the amount of Paralytic Shellfish Poison or PSP (a toxin from the red tide plankton) which accumulates in the flesh of mussels, as well as other marine organisms that indulge in luxury feeding. Harvesting and selling of tahong are prohibited when the threshold level of the toxin is reached. Tahong is also known to accumulate toxic metals and residues where pollution is heavy.

 

 

                                                          Capiz windowpane shell (top left), and other edible species.  

As a hobby and craft, shellfish  are collected for their unique

 shapes and designs, and material value. ~