A Delicacy? Bravery or Insanity? ...You Choose!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

During our 2007 trip to Sal in the Cape Verde Islands, we had a day where both kids were tired,  then 2 yr old Little Mr. was in dire need of his midday nap,  Himself  had a late breakfast, didn’t feel energetic and wasn’t  hungry.

Kiwi Best-Friend and I were both hungry and restless so opted for a walk down the beach to check out the menu in a place on the beach very close to the pier…

There was no sign to really give a name to the place, just tables and people sitting eating (duh, I wasn’t so savvy in those days to ask for details or a business card or details) so we just saw that it was a restaurant and ambled on in.

Kiwi Best-Friend  had a fit of bravery (or insanity) and saw an item written in  it’s portuguese creole name (no description) that had the English words after it: “ local delicacy, go on, try it !!!!!“

Now, think hard about this… the five exclamation marks probably should have been a VERY LARGE red flag … and I only wish that I had had the camera on Kiwi Best-Friend’s face when this was bought out… the look of shock on her face was priceless!

…and yes it probably was rude and insensitive of me to laugh that hard in a restaurant (but on that day I had no shame).

I’ll give full credit where it’s due…  Kiwi Best-Friend is far braver gal than I will ever be!
Sadly the name in creole didn’t help us decide at first if this was Animal or Vegetable … but later information revealed that these are:

“perceves” in Portuguese, “percebes” in Spanish, “gooseneck barnacles” in English and “Lepadomorpha” in Latin.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Barnacles?

I suppose that makes these “animal” then.

Kiwi Best Friend looked rather desperate, a look that only intensified when I declined to help polish off these morsels. (actually I have  real reason to be weary, I’m allergic to shellfish and since I didn’t know if these might be classed as shellfish or not, I opted to stay on the safe and boring side of caution).

I had tuna and we shared some shrimps…

Yes, Kiwi Best Friend tried, and made a valiant effort to eat these, but after a while she declared them to be “really not her thing” and knowing that  Himself loves eating all Fruits de mer and that he would probably enjoy these, a decent portion of this got doggy-bagged up and taken back to the apartment for Himself to enjoy….

… which after an initial startled look when he unwrapped the package, he did, greatly!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)