Sea snails

Does the sight of this whet your appetite?

Or how about this?

Hmm. Definitely not the first thing that I would order or put on my shopping list. Amazed by the size of these sea snails, Mum thought she'd buy them as a once-off and reminisce her younger years.

Picking the squeezy buggers out:

Their shell cap (top and bottom side of 2)

It's underbelly

The suckery bit, I think

Putting the thought of it formerly being a slimy sludgey sea sucker out of my mind, I tried some of the thick end bit with BBQ sauce. It tasted seaish, a bit like mussell but with a smoother firm texture. So I didnt mind it too much. Apparently the coiled section was sandy and I could understand why. After dissecting it, I figured the black underbelly was the digestive system as you would see in prawn guts, but more of it. It also had a thin membrane over it and it was quite interesting pulling it apart what I think were it's the organs.

Well there you go. Still definitely not something I would order, but least I've tried it.