Who can refuse some good zamburiñas? You can find them on the menu of many restaurants, you don’t have to go to a seaport, where they will be more likely to appear on the menu. As you know, we tend to taste seafood on the coast, even if it is Argentine shrimp or Indian chopitos. Enjoy them, of course. But almost certainly, they are not Zamburiñas.
It is a very widespread fraud. I have personally experienced it in all the restaurants in Galicia and Madrid where I have ordered them. But, since in science personal experience is insufficient, let’s turn to literature to argue it: researchers from the University of Oviedo verified it in twenty restaurants, all those they analyzed, and in many packaged products.
You order zamburiñas, a typical product of the Galician estuaries, and they bring you some Pacific scallops, a bivalve that comes from the other side of the world. The tasty zamburiñas are scarce, and therefore, expensive. Pacific scallops, less tasty, very abundant and cheaper. Cat for a hare.
They are two different species, with different quality, although from the same family, the scallops. If you learn to recognize the species of this family well, you will know what you consume. And you will be able to discover the fraud yourself.
We recognize this family of bivalve mollusks because the famous scallop shell, Pecten jacobaeus, belongs to them.
Once again we find the unequivocal scientific names: Pecten, for a comb-shaped structure that the shell presents, and jacobeus, for being the symbol of Santiago. Anyone who has done El Camino or refueled at the gas stations in La Concha identifies the scallops.
In reality, Pecten jacobaeus is the endemic scallop of the Mediterranean Sea, while in Galicia, in the Atlantic, its larger relative, Pecten maximus, is found.
As bivalves they are, their skeleton is made up of two valves, more or less rounded, with an umbo or apex from which the rays – the ribs – originate as if they were the rods of a fan. On both sides of the apex we can see two projections, 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 majority of the food, that is, what we eat.
Pectinids are hermaphrodites. The so-called coral is the female gonad, orange or reddish in color, except in the zamburiña, which is brown. Next to it is the male gonad, whitish in color. At first glance you can detect that what is represented in the initial photo of this article are not zamburiñas, even if you paid for them as such. The red gives it away.
The two scallops of the genus Pecten (P. jacobaeus, P. maximus) are the largest species of pectinids that we consume in Spain, measuring more than 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 valve, the upper or dorsal one, 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 color varies from pink to orange, although their interior is generally white. Unlike scallops, both valves are concave.
The scallop (Mimachlamys varia) is the smallest species, about 5 cm high. It can be distinguished very well by its oval, teardrop-shaped contour, with a very dark violet color, 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 rarest scallop, reaching the highest prices in the market.
It is the tastiest species and, therefore, it is not strange that any scallop is called scallop, both fresh and preserved.
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 its morphology to the volandeira, but larger in size. Due to its origin, what they serve is a thawed product.
It is a very showy species, it catches the eye. Its notable size is accompanied by the beautiful violet color 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. The Galician species taste more like the sea, if you allow the expression.
As a land-dwelling species, humans are less familiar with seafood, which makes fraud easier.
Thus, we have consumed squid for octopus, squid for squid, halibut for sole, perch for grouper, redfish for scorpionfish, snapper for seabream, mugel for sea bass, and salpa for bream. Fortunately, aquaculture has provided us with bass and bream at an affordable price and these last two scams have disappeared. And also the fights in restaurants when you discover that the fish, a false sea bass or a false sea bream, tastes like mud (yes, the latter is an autobiographical note).
These “substitutions,” such as the Pacific scallop for scallops, are fraudulent. We have a beautiful food regulation that states that “(we must) offer consumers a basis to make informed choices about the foods they consume and avoid any practice that could mislead the consumer.” And also an unequivocal legislative resolution in which we are informed that the Zamburiña must be called Zamburiña; and the Pacific scallop, Pacific scallop. What things do laws have?
This article was originally published on The Conversation website. You can access the article from this link.
