What foods these morsels be

Can there be too much seafood? Never. But there can be shortages of it, as seagoing processing plants continue to overfish and damage the oceans' habitats. Mariculture (saltwater farming) and aquaculture (freshwater) won't save the day.

One frightening forecast made by the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C., warns of a "global collapse of seafood fisheries within the next 40 years." Which conjures a "Soylent Green" scenario. In that classic 1973 movie, a world was depicted in which the oceans had become barren.

Meanwhile, consider the scallop, one of the most prized -- yet misunderstood -- jewels of the sea.

The scallop's distinct ribbed shell has an iconic past. For instance, it was the symbol of Saint James and later of the Order of St. James, an army of crusaders who named themselves in honor of the brother of John the Apostle.

The famous 15th century painting "The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli depicts the goddess preparing to step off a giant scallop shell that has transported her from the ocean to the beach, with some windy help from the Zephyrs.

Then there's the logo of Shell Oil Co., the red and yellow scallop seen at gas stations around the world. Shell's first corporate logo (1901) depicted a dreary-looking mussel shell, which was replaced by the more stylized scallop shell in 1904.

But that's history. What about the present? Why are home cooks who are usually comfortable handling shellfish and fish reluctant to deal with scallops? Where do scallops come from? How come you hardly ever see them in their shells? For this primer, I talked with a number of restaurateurs and other experts who work full time in seafood-related retail and wholesale businesses on both coasts.

What is a scallop?

A scallop, or pectin, is a bivalve marine mollusk akin to the oyster, the clam and the mussel. Scallops have a natural life span of about two years.

We Californians are most familiar with sea (big) and bay (small) scallops, which arrive here mostly from New England and Canada. Sea scallops live in deep Atlantic waters from maritime Canada south to Virginia, though New Bedford, Mass., is considered the scallop capital. Bay scallops are found in shallow waters from New England south through the Gulf of Mexico.

Weathervane (jumbo) and rock scallops are harvested in Alaska. There once were abundant calico scallop grounds offshore of Florida and North Carolina, but they were exhausted by the mid-1990s. A percentage of scallops are farm-raised, but most are wild.

What's the big deal about scallops as seafood?

Probably their unique sweet flavor, unusual texture and versatility. Home cooks can fry, broil, pan-sear, sauté, bake or poach them. Cooked, they can be topped with a multitude of sauces, served with rice or tossed in pasta. Like halibut, scallops easily pick up the flavors of whatever they're cooked with. But be careful: They overcook very quickly and turn rubbery. Raw, they make fine sushi and ceviche

Do scallops actually swim?

Most species lurch around in short bursts by snapping their shells open and closed to create a jet of water that propels them forward, hopefully. They do this for purposes related to migration, mating and fleeing predators such as rays and starfish.

Such "exercise" develops the adductor muscle, which attaches the two shells and controls their opening and closing. The disproportionately huge adductor muscle is also known as the "eye."

When you open a scallop, you see a dark "mantle" or "veil," which secretes chemicals that harden and grow the shells. The mantle is lined with up to 100 blue eyes. Beneath the mantle is the animal itself, and nearby lies the adductor muscle.

What are we really eating when we buy and cook scallops?

Those glistening white and yellowish rounds sold as scallops at seafood markets and grocery stores are the adductor muscles removed from whole scallops. Scallops are commonly cooked and served whole throughout Europe and Asia.

So adductor muscles aren't pieces of meat punched out of skate wings or sharks?

About the writer:

• The Bee's Allen Pierleoni can be reached at (916) 321-1128 or apierleoni@sacbee.com.