Education makes us stop eating a lot of things. Etiquette and good table mannerisms do not advise you to ‘blow air in’ while eating but this special source of protein makes you break this rule.
But don’t just stop eating Apoofee because you are a graduate.
Apoofee has beautiful names. Its scientific name, Littorina littorea, sounds so nice that you may think it is a name of a person, flower, an expensive designer perfume or one of the popular soap operas on television. It is periwinkles.
The periwinkle is also found in North America and Africa (on foreshores). It is classified within the family of Littorinidae.
In Fante it is called ‘abebew’ or ‘hyowhyow’. It is also called ‘bewbew’ in Ga. It is ‘le bigorneau’ in French.
Periwinkles have thick brown, gray-brown or blackish shell with five to eight whorls. The shell profile is rugged and shaped like a cone with no obvious shoulders where one whorl attaches to the preceding one. It has a sharp apex. The inner lip of the shell is generally white.When sucked, the sluggish tiny fish content of the shelly periwinkle comes out smoothly.
It is not hard to chew and tastes like any other snail.
Many Ghanaians now (especially those in the middle class) don’t really eat it for various reasons apart from breaking table mannerisms.
“I don’t like them because they waste time eating and also make a lot of noise when sucking it out,” Mr Sam explained his dislike for the minute shell fish.
Maame Efua, a graduate of the Cape Coast Nurses and Midwives Training College (NMTC), says although the periwinkles tastes good, the efforts and time it takes to prepare a dish with periwinkles makes its eating a disincentive.
Apart from the notable protein sources in Ghana such as pork, beef, mutton, chicken and the host of others, the periwinkle is one major protein food.
Forget about its tiny size and hard work in preparing it, a little periwinkle would rather help than hurt you. You may want to try it.
According to a nutritionist at Nutriline (a weight loss and nutrition centre in Accra), Mrs Sandra Ayisi Addo, periwinkles are good source of protein.
“It is a source of good quality protein. In terms of fat, it is very low and since it is low in fat, the saturated fat is also very low and we are mindful of saturated fat because of its link with heart diseases and stroke,” she stated.
According to Mrs Ayisi Addo, periwinkles are not a major source of cholesterol and eating them leaves the consumer no worries about their cholesterol level going up though they have some amount of cholesterol in them.
Mrs Ayisi Addo said the periwinkles also contained omega three fatty acids which was very essential to the body.
According to her, the omega three acids help in promoting hard shells and is good for growth and proper functioning of the body.
“It is also a good source of minerals such as magnesium and phosphorus which are important for bone health and also for the teeth,” she said.
She indicated that though the periwinkle contained a lot of nutritional values essential for people of all ages, it was better to eat it in a balanced diet.
Periwinkles can be picked on both open coast and estuary habitats from the upper intertidal zones and can tolerate salinities down to around 13 part per thousand (unit for measuring salinity).
Though mostly abundant on rocky substrates, the shell fish can equally be found on muddy or sandy bottoms. In favourable habitations, it reaches densities of up to 200-800 whorls per square metre.
Periwinkles commonly cleave to rocks or structures to secure themselves and provide a measure of protection against predators.
Periwinkles have a liking for rocks; this is because it gives them copious food source. Periwinkles mainly feed on algae and also eat smaller invertebrates such as barnacle larvae. The shell of the periwinkle is an irregular oval shape with a sharply pointed edge that can prick your feet if you accidentally step on it.
Common periwinkles can live for many days without food or water. They close themselves into their shells and excrete a sticky mucous that hardens, firmly attaching the animal to the rock or blade of sea grass. They are able to adapt to a variety of environmental conditions, including extreme heat and wind, low tide, severe wave action and submergence at high tide.
According to information available, a single periwinkle can live between five and ten years. Each year, a single female can lay 10,000 to 100,000 eggs, which hatch into larvae four to seven weeks later. Not all of the larvae make it to adulthood, with many thousands falling victim to predators and harsh sea conditions.
Periwinkles are common in African, British and Irish cuisine, and they are sold on open markets in cans and bags. African and Asian cooks regard the snails as a delicacy.
Highly valued for their taste, periwinkle consumption is not only limited to Ghanaians or Africans. It has been collected and eaten for centuries.
Periwinkles play integral role in the dishes of most Ghanaians especially those living along the coastal belt and the rural areas.
Apart from its consumption, the shells of the periwinkles can be used artistically by artists as materials for decoration.
I decided to find out about how people patronised this protein source on some principal markets in Cape Coast, the educational capital of Ghana.
I have not been in the metropolis for long and it took directions from six people to locate where the periwinkles were sold; the Anaafo market in Cape Coast, just down the SSNIT building at Kingsway.
I finally came across Auntie Esi who obviously was not enthused about the interview and reluctantly gave me her name.
She sat behind nicely mounted trays of periwinkle snails on a table with other food stuffs. According to the 52 -year- old periwinkle seller, they usually bought the periwinkles from Mankessim market which wholesalers carry in sacks from Yeji in the Volta Region. She said the periwinkles were sold in the 50kg jute bags for 50 and 80 Ghana Cedis depending on the season.
Auntie Esi said it usually took her a month or two to sell the full bag of periwinkles as the Anaafo market was not as busy as other markets in Cape Coast.
Auntie Esi first smiled and said, “It tastes like any other snail,” while frying her groundnuts.
I continued then to Kotokuraba market; the biggest market in the Cape Coast metropolis. As usual, the market was very busy with people selling and buying. Hawkers never spared the already polluted noisy environment with their shouts.
Mrs Hannah Sagoe also sells periwinkles. She welcomed me with a beaming smile. She was happy to grant me an interview. She explained that one must take time when dealing with periwinkles.
She added that before you could add the periwinkles to your soup (especially palm nut soup), one must wash it thoroughly (about five times) and cook it for about ten minutes, saying “If you don’t simmer it, it changes the colour of the soup and vice versa.”
Mrs Sagoe said she knew that the periwinkles were a rich source of calcium.She added that it was very good especially for pregnant women, claiming that because of the periwinkles she added to her meals, all her children walked in their eighth month; something she described as unusual in the Ghanaian society
Mrs Sagoe, who has been in the selling of periwinkles since 1972, said through the selling of the periwinkles, she had been able to support her husband to educate their children.
According to her, her customers included people from all classes. She noted that sometimes people came to buy the periwinkles in small bags to be exported to their relatives abroad who could not stay without the snail. Isaac, a colleague reporter, said he had always loved periwinkles, “You have to wash it thoroughly for a very long time and boil it (add salt). If you don’t cook it well, the fish will not come out when you suck it. It takes time to cook too but I really like the periwinkles. What I don’t like about the periwinkle is that you can crack a stone with your teeth when eating it.”
“I was stunned when I saw one woman preparing some in our house. I thought the periwinkle was in extinction because the last time I tasted some was when I was a little boy, about 50 years ago,” Mr Odoom said, scratching his head and smiling.
Mrs Ayisi Addo noted that periwinkles were particularly good for pregnant women.
She, however, advised them to boil it well before eating in order not to introduce micro-organisms into their systems.
As an Akan proverb goes: sankofa, which literary means it is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten. For those of us who allow education to prevents us from eating periwinkles, we should reconsider that mentality and start adding the delicious Apoofee to our soups.
I have already started adding the abebew to my diet and I can tell you that there is no experience worth experiencing than sucking the shell for the little snail, littorina littorea.
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