chez adrideo: pasta with pearls

from a mussel, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

The resident chef prepared spaghetti with mussels for lunch today and it was my pleasure entirely to crack, albeit unsuccessfully, these white pearls with my teeth. Thank God I didn't crack my teeth, either! Now I know that pearls come from oysters and not mussels, and these tiny balls hardly shine at all, but I imagine that their birth and growth have been quite similar to those of pearls: some nearly invisible particles of sand or rock entered the shell, and mother-of-pearl coating slowly engulfed them.