Alan Davidson

Otter Shells

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

otter shells bivalves of the genus Lutraria, have minor importance as food in Europe and SE Asia. L. lutraria, the largest of several European species, is light in colour, may measure up to 12 cm (nearly 5"), and used to be called clumps or horseshoes in the Channel Islands. It can be steamed open and then fried.

A SE Asian species which is liked in Thailand for its tender meat is almost as large and has a purple shell which turns white when dry.

© the Estate of Alan Davidson 1999, 2006, 2014 © in the Editor’s contribution to the second and third editions, Oxford University Press 2006, 2014.