From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids
Scallops are the family Pectinidae of bivalve molluscs. Like the true oysters (family Ostreidae), they have a central adductor muscle, and thus their shells have a characteristic central scar marking its point of attachment. However, the adductor muscle of scallops is larger and more developed than that of oysters because they are active swimmers and the sole migratory bivalve. Their shell shape tends to be highly regular, recalling the archetypal form of a seashell.
Scallops may be attached to a substrate by a structure called a byssus, or cemented to their substrate (e.g. Hinnites spp.). They can also be free living. A scallop can swim by rapidly opening and closing its shell. This method of rapidly opening and closing its shell is also a defense technique, protecting it from any threats. There is a definite whistling sound upon propulsion that the scallops make.
[edit] Life cycle
Scallops are hermaphroditic; capable of switching sexes. Both sexes produce roe, whose coloring depends upon the parent's (current) gender. Red roe is that of a female, and white, that of a male. Spermatozoa and ova are released freely into the water during mating season and fertilized ova sink to the bottom. After several weeks, the immature scallop hatches and the larvae drift until settling to the bottom again to grow. They reach sexual maturity after several years, though they may not reach a commercially harvestable size until six to eight years of age. Scallop may live to be as old as 18 years of age, with their age reflected in the annuli, the concentric rings of their shells. Scallops migrate in large schools throughout the year.
[edit] Scallops in cooking
Scallops are a popular type of shellfish in both Eastern and Western cooking. They are characterised by having two types of meat in one shell: the scallop (white, meaty) and its coral which is red or white and soft, which is its roe.
In western cuisine, scallops are commonly sautéd in butter, or else breaded and deep fried. Scallops are commonly paired with light semi-dry white wines. Generally speaking in the U.S., when a scallop is prepared, only the adductor muscle is used; the other parts of the scallop surrounding the muscle are ordinarily discarded. Sometimes markets in the U.S. sell scallops already prepared in the shell, with only the adductor muscle intact. Outside the U.S., the scallop is often sold whole. Scallops that are without any additives are called "dry packed" while scallops that are treated with sodium tripolyphosphate (STP) are called "wet packed". STP causes the scallops to absorb moisture prior to the freezing process, thereby getting a better price per kilogram.
In continental cuisine, scallops are often prepared in the form of a quiche or cooked and then set into a savory custard. In Japanese cuisine, scallops may be served in soup or prepared as sashimi or sushi. Dried scallop is known in Oriental cuisine as conpoy.
In a sushi bar, hotategai(帆立貝, 海扇) is the traditional scallop on rice, and while kaibashira (貝柱) may be called scallops, it is actually the adductor muscle of any kind of shellfish, e.g. mussels, oysters, or clams.
Scallops have lent their name to the culinary term scalloped, which originally referred to seafood creamed and served hot in the shell (Rombauer 1964). Today it means a creamed casserole dish such as scalloped potatoes, which contains no seafood at all.
[edit] Scallop as a symbol
[edit] The shell of Saint James
The scallop shell is the traditional emblem of Saint James the Great and is popular with pilgrims on the Way of St James to the apostles shrine at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Medieval Christians making the pilgrimage to his shrine often wore a scallop shell symbol on their hats or clothes.
The association of Saint James with the scallop can most likely be traced to the legend that the apostle once rescued a knight covered in scallops. An alternate version of the legend holds that while St. James's remains were being transported to Spain from Jerusalem, the horse of a knight fell into the water, and emerged covered in the shells.
- The Swedish word for scallop literally translates to pilgrim mussel.
- A French name for a dish containing scallops is coquille St. Jacques (in Québec, pétoncle is more commonly used).
- The Dutch name is Jakobsschelp (Jakob being Dutch for James).
[edit] The scallop as a fertility symbol
Aphrodite in a sea shell, from
Amisos, now in Louvre.
One legend of the Way of St James holds that the route was seen as a sort of fertility pilgrimage, undertaken when a young couple desired to bear offspring; the scallop shell is believed to have originally been carried therefore by pagans as a symbol of fertility.[citation needed]
Many paintings of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and fertility, included a scallop shell in the painting to identify her; this is evident in Botticelli's classically inspired The Birth of Venus (which has even been nicknamed "Venus on the half-shell").
[edit] Other
The scallop shell symbol found its way into heraldry as a badge of those who had been on the pilgrimage to Compostela. Winston Churchill's family coat of arms includes a scallop, as does John Wesley's (and as a result the scallop shell is used as an emblem of Methodism).
The multinational oil company Royal Dutch Shell uses a red and yellow scallop shell emblem as its logo.
The U.S. state of New York made the bay scallop its state shell in 1988.
[edit] Scallops in Design
In design Scalloped edges or ridges refers to a wavy pattern reminiscent of the edge of a scallop's shell.
[edit] Gathering scallops
Scallops were traditionally caught by dragging the seabed, but now in British seas there is a trade in scuba diving to catch scallops. Dived scallops tend to fetch better prices than dredged scallops because their shells are not damaged as much and there is much less rubbish mixed with the catch.
[edit] Genera list
The Great Scallop (Pecten maximus) on the right, next to the Native Oyster (Ostrea edulis).
- Aequipecten
- Amusium
- Anguipecten
- Annachlamys
- Argopecten
- Bathypecten
- Bractechlamys
- Catillopecten
- Chlamys
- Coralichlamys
- Cryptopecten
- Decatopecten
- Delectopecten
- Equichlamys
- Euvola
- Excellichlamys
- Flexopecten
- Glorichlamys
- Gloripallium
- Haumea
- Hyalopecten
- Juxtamusium
- Lissopecten
- Mesopeplum
- Mimachlamys
- Minnivola
- Mirapecten
- Nodipecten
- Notochlamys
- Patinopecten
- Pecten
- Pedum
- Pseudohinnites
- Semipallium
- Serratovola
- Sinepecten
- Somalipecten
- Veprichlamys
- Volachlamys
[edit] References
- Rombauer, Irma S. and Marion Rombauer Becker (1931 [1964]) The Joy of Cooking, p 369. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. ISBN 0-452-25665-8.
[edit] External links
