I remember growing up to know this sea animal as winky winky. Some other kids grew up to know it as fiom fiom because of the sound produced when sucking it out of its' shell.
I'm talking about the perewinkle.
Winky winky
This specie of perewinkle is common in Nigeria and is a major constituent of indigenous foods in the south.
The igbos call it isam and the Efik/ibibios call it mfi or nfi.
Igbo foods such as isi ewu and nkwobi are incomplete without it.
The Akwaibomites hardly cook soups without perewinkle either shelled or unshelled.
For the shelled perewinkles,they are dressed by cutting thier bottom short to aid easy removal.
Shelled perewinkle after dressing
The shelled perewinkles can be found in ekpang nkukwo,afang,editan and atama soup,edikan ikong and even afia efere.
The unshelled perewinkles are a perfect match in soups like melon,draw soup or okra soup, palm oil rice or mkpafere soup.
To remove the shell from the perewinkle, the perewinkes are first washed in water and slightly cooked to remove the slime.
After that,the water used for steaming is allowed to cool. The perewinkles are removed one after the other from the shell with the use of a special pin(almost as small as an office pin).
It is thereafter preserved in salty water until ready for use.
The nutritional benefit of perewinkle cannot be over emphasized.
The meat is high in protein, omega-3 fatty acids and low in fat; according to the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, raw snails in general are about 80% water, 15% protein, and 1.4% fat.
However,not everyone likes perewinkle and some others feel it doesn't just go with every food.
Well,that doesn't move me馃槃 because even my best food,pounded yam and white soup can never be complete without perewinkle.
Not only is perewinkle affordable and attractive in food,it increases appetite because no matter what,you are sure you have something to chew during the meal while waiting for the right time to have your meat.
My best food
Please if you are a perewinkle lover,identify yourself.
I hope you found this post interesting.
Thanks for reading.
