Ugly beautiful mussels ......

My son picked these up out of Lyttelton Harbour where he otherwise collects seaweed for research purposes. They served as a damn tasty hors d'oeuvre this evening. The accompanying beverage is a Two Thumbs Oatmeal Stout. I don't want to come across as a pretentious wanker, but it was a fine match of food to drink.

The first time I ate mussels was when I was about thirteen years old. Dad had pulled them from Ohiwa Harbour (Eastern Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand) and at our campsite cooked them on a piece of corrugated iron sitting atop a 44 gallon drum furnace. Because mussels look ugly, I had until then shied away from them. It was a warm summer's evening and I was keen to have a can of beer but in order to qualify for the beer I had to eat a mussel. It made me realise then, that ugly things have their own beauty. Wow eh?