BoatBanter.com - View Single Post

H the K

wrote:
On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:10:37 -0400, H the K
wrote:

We used to make "Periwinkle soup" made from coquinas we seived from
the beach sand boiled with milk and then strained to remove the sand.

What?

Coquina is empty shells, right? A few hundred yards off the beaches of
St. Augustine were miles of coquina under the surface. Pretty decent
fishing grounds, actually. You made soup from empty shells?

Did it taste like...chicken?

Where do you think the empty shells came from?

These are the little guys that bury themselves as fast as the waves or
kids, dig them up. Try digging a little right at the water's edge,
damn near anywhere in Florida. Here on the Gulf Coast you could fill a
drywall bucket in 10 minutes.
We tried making that soup and "chicken" was not the first thing that
comes to mind.
Sort of "bait shop soup".

BTW the trick is to put them in a live well or a bait bucket suspended
off the bottom and they will expel most of the sand themselves.
Unfortunately the sand might be the best tasting part.

Hey...I thought the term was a local name for the empty shells. I was
younger then, and didn't question everything. That's my excuse and I am
sticking to it.