Can you eat a sand flea? Batter up! Also, mascots and a Great White Shark | HEY, WILLIE!
HEY, WILLIE!
In your delightful updates on the sand flea (April 14), I was reading along and had to wonder, do people eat the sand flea?
Honestly, who would have ever looked at an oyster and decided to see how it tastes? As a child on vacation in Myrtle Beach, I remember seeing periwinkle soup on a menu. I didn’t want any myself, and never knew whether it was really periwinkles or just a cute name.
BUD
HEY, BUD!
Short answer: Yes. As long as the supply chain keeps giving us coating — either flour or, preferably, Martha White cornmeal — and plenty of Old Bay, some folks will keep eating sand fleas. And adding periwinkles to soup, it turns out.
Longer answer: I reckon for most of us, it’s a PR deal. Anything with the word “flea” faces an image hurdle between the tide line and my plate. If the name “sand crab” had stuck, maybe we’d be more inclined to put it on an appetizer menu.
Some call them mole crabs, but then you have “mole” messing with you as you prepare for the first bite.
Then again, some people eat crawfish. And it’s not just that they eat them, but how they eat them. Talk about getting your Neanderthal on!
At least crawfish have a taste. Oysters, not so much, which is why you’ve added a Saltine, butter and enough cocktail sauce to cover your beer coaster. You know who you are … you like oysters as long as you don’t have to actually taste them — not that they have any taste, just that charming texture.
Where were we?
About five keystrokes at the laptop will turn you on to a slew of sand flea recipes, many of them accompanied by video instruction on YouTube. Suffice to say, if the beginning of the recipe includes boiling in order to kill potential parasites, I move on to old Roger Miller videos.
Sure do miss Roger.
Anyway, if you can stomach such things, consider the sand flea similar to the shrimp: A real duel threat. Terrific bait for fishing — the absolute best for certain targets, such as the pompano — but also available for the fryer if you have some left over at day’s end. Yes, as long as you’ve kept them alive.
All crunch, hardly any meat, they say, but lots of proteins and other needed minerals. Have at it.
If any of you adventurous foodies out there eat sand fleas, feel free to chime in with tips and recipes and, of course, any parasitic maladies you’ve overcome.
REMEMBER THE MAROONS! Tampa Bay Rays open at full gallop, but MLB history says hold your horses | KEN WILLIS
THRU THE GEARS Don't flip out! We pass on Martinsville (pun intended), and look to Talladega!
HEY, WILLIE!
A quick note to say how much I enjoyed your column (April 16) on the Rays, Braves and Brewers and also the St. Louis Maroons. I sincerely appreciate the time you spend on historical research.
My youngest son holds season tickets for Braves games. I sent him your column so he could learn about Chief Noc-A-Homa and Princess Win-A-Lotta.
LEO
HEY, LEO!
How about that, a compliment for our Boys in Research!
Regarding the Braves and their 20 years employing the Chief as mascot, I do wonder if the organization’s history books have excluded a chapter on Noc-A-Homa (not to mention his one-season sidekick, Win-A-Lotta).
The franchise has held fast to the team name and logo, as well as the fans’ tomahawk chop, but I’m guessing they wince a bit if someone brings up the teepee and war dances.
HEY, WILLIE!
I’m glad Jon Rahm won the Masters. Personally, it would’ve made me sick to see a LIV golfer parading around in a green jacket.
MTN MAN
HEY, MAN!
If Brooks Koepka had kept his stride and won the Masters, it would’ve been interesting to see how much he would’ve gone along as the LIV leaders “paraded” him around in his new sport-coat.
If LIV sticks around, eventually one of its contracted golfers will likely win a major, and maybe it’ll be awkward, maybe it won’t.
There will be fewer and fewer of them in majors going forward, since they’ll tumble in the world rankings. But the handful of past Masters champs in LIV will continue to get their Augusta invites, and part of me is pulling for a win, just to see how Jim Nantz finesses the green-jacket scene inside Butler Cabin.
"Finally, I'd be remiss in not mentioning the tour from which you come ..."
HEY, WILLIE!
You and the other media focus too much on Greg Norman when talking about LIV golf. If the leaders of LIV hadn’t found Norman to be their public face, they would’ve found someone else and the same controversy would still be alive.
RANDY
LIVE AND LET LIV? LIV Golf doesn't exactly prepare you for Masters week | KEN WILLIS
HEY, RANDY!
Yeah, but it wouldn’t be nearly as delicious a topic.
Not sure there’s ever been a more star-crossed golfer than Greg Norman. In his prime golfing years, to borrow from Haggard, he was always on a mountain when he fell.
And in his post-golf business life, the Shark had many irons in the fire and was seemingly doing well, but couldn’t resist linking arms with the Saudis and inviting the ridicule aimed his way these past couple of years.
Thankfully, for his sake, he has enough self confidence to ride it out. Some might label it differently.
— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: On a Braves teepee, LIV Golf's shark issue, and the edible sand flea
