Who can say no to some good scallops? You can find them on the menu of many restaurants, there is no need to go to a sea port, where they are more likely to be on the menu. You know, we have a tendency to taste seafood products from the coast, even if they are Argentine shrimps or chopitos from the Indian Ocean.
Enjoy them, of course. But they are almost certainly not scallops.
It is a widespread fraud. I have personally experienced it in all the restaurants in Galicia and Madrid where I have ordered them. But, as in science personal experience is insufficient, let’s resort to literature to argue it: researchers from the University of Oviedo proved it in twenty restaurants, all the ones they analyzed, and in many packaged products.
You order scallops, a typical product of the Galician estuaries, and they bring you scallops from the Pacific, a bivalve that comes from the other side of the world. Tasty scallops are scarce, and therefore expensive. The Pacific scallops, less tasty, very abundant and cheaper. A pig in a poke.
They are two different species, with different quality, although they belong to the same family, the scallops. If you learn to recognize the species of this family, you will know what you are eating. And you will be able to discover the fraud yourself.
The scallops
We recognize this family of bivalve mollusks because the famous scallop shell, Pecten jacobaeus, belongs to them.
Once again we find the unmistakable scientific names: Pecten, for the comb-like structure of the shell, and jacobeus, for being the symbol of Santiago. Anyone who has done El Camino or refueled at gas stations in the shell identifies the scallops.
In reality, Pecten jacobaeus is the scallop endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, while in Galicia, in the Atlantic, its larger relative, Pecten maximus, is found.
As bivalves, their skeleton consists of two valves, more or less rounded, with an umbo or apex from which the rays – the ribs – depart as if they were the rods of a fan. On both sides of the apex we can observe two protrusions, the so-called “ears”.
If we open it, the adductor muscle immediately stands out in a central position, which, together with the gonad, constitutes the major part of the vianda, that is, what we eat.
Scallops are hermaphrodites. The so-called coral is the female gonad, which is orange or reddish in color, except in the scallop, which is brownish. Next to it is the male gonad, whitish in color. At first glance you can detect that what is represented in the photo of this article are not zamburiñas, even if you pay them as such. The red color gives it away.
The Spanish species
The two scallops of the genus Pecten (P. jacobaeus, P. maximus) are the largest species of scallops we consume in Spain, over 12 centimeters high. Their size makes them unmistakable, with a concave shell with a white interior that rests on the bottom and serves as a container for a good gastronomic recipe or, at the time, as a glass for pilgrims. The other shell, the upper or dorsal, is flattened and reddish to violet in color. They have a circular outline, with ears of equal size.
Very similar, also with a circular outline, but smaller in size, we have the volandeira (Aequipecten opercularis). The two ears are unequal and their coloration varies from pink to orange, although their interior is generally white. Unlike scallops, the two valves are concave.
The scalloped grebe (Mimachlamys varia) is the smallest species, about 5 cm high. It is well distinguished by its oval, teardrop-shaped outline, with a very dark violet coloration, and by its ears, one very small and the other enormous. It has between 25 and 35 radial ribs, more than the other species. It is the most scarce scallop, reaching the highest prices in the fish market.
It is the tastiest species and, therefore, it is not strange that any scallop is called scallop, both fresh and canned.
The Pacific scallop
The Pacific scallop (Argopectem purpuratus) is the species that is usually served when you order scallops. It is a species from Peru and Chile, similar in morphology to the volandeira, but larger in size. Due to its origin, what they serve is a defrosted product.
It is a very eye-catching species, it enters through the eyes. Its remarkable size is accompanied by the beautiful violet coloration of its shell and the red color of the female gonad.
It has a milder flavor than the volandeira or the zamburiña, which feed on the rich phytoplankton of the Galician estuaries, which gives it its organoleptic characteristics. Galician species taste more like the sea, if I may say so.
Do we know what we eat?
As a land-dwelling species, humans are less familiar with seafood products, which facilitates fraud.
Thus, we have consumed poton for octopus, pota for squid, halibut for sole, perch for grouper, redfish for scorpionfish, chopa for bream, múgel for sea bass, and salpa for sea bream. Fortunately, aquaculture has provided us with sea bass and sea bream at an affordable price and these last two deceptions have disappeared. And also the fuss in restaurants when you find out that the fish, a false sea bass or a false sea bream, tastes like mud (yes, this last is an autobiographical note).
These “substitutions”, like the Pacific scallop for scallops, are fraudulent. We have a nice food regulation that states that “(we) must provide consumers with a basis for making informed choices about the foods they consume and avoid any practices that may mislead the consumer.” And also an unequivocal legislative resolution informing us that scallops should be called zamburiña; and Pacific scallops, Pacific scallops. What a thing about laws!
