The Santoku supermarket near our apartment caters to gourmets and the local French population. There are five different varieties of escargot (three frozen, two fresh), and a frozen meats section that has every hard-to-find meat we’ve ever craved: turkey, quail, duck, and even American bacon.

There are lots of esoteric things, too. Like this 7,000 yen ($53) ostrich egg. They had six of them and two seem to have been sold.

And then there’s this. Despite the sign, we aren’t sure what it is. It has a clam-like shell but the muscle that protrudes (and hangs over the edge of its styrofoam container) is the size of my forearm. Is this tasty?

It might be better for self-defense. “Get back or I’ll show you my giant shellfish! Any closer and I’ll make you eat it!” For only 1,500 yen ($12), it’s better than mace. Posted by kuri at April 21, 2002 09:29 AM