Shellfish eaters,

I had my first taste of brachiopods in Thailand when I rode on the back of a
motorcycle on the island of Ko Yao Noi.

My guide, Bu Pha, took me to the stilt house of a friend. She motioned to me
to try eating something from a metal bowl. In the bowl, it looked like a
pile of dirty fingernails with worms coming from the center. She opened one
and ate it raw. I did likewise. I preferred accepting that hospitality to
drinking the local water offered to me. Not bad.

Has anyone else tried brachiopods, raw or otherwise? Can they be eaten
without destroying the shell?

David Kirsh
Durham, NC