While growing up, I have known this sea creature as Isam or periwinkle. Some other children call it piom piom throwaway due to the sound the periwinkle makes when sucked out of its shell.
This periwinkle species can be seen everywhere in Nigeria and is also not missed in some special native dishes. Some Igbo tribe foods like the bitter leaf soup and some others can be said to be incomplete without the periwinkle. The Akwa Ibom tribe rarely cook soups without periwinkles, or the ones removed from their shells. For shelled periwinkles, they are prepared by cutting off their undersides for easy removal.
unshelled periwinkles
The shelled periwinkles can be found in all types of soup in the southern part of Nigerian.
To take the periwinkles out of the shell, the perwinkes are washed properly in clean water and lightly boiled to remove the slime. Allow to cool off.
A special needle (almost as small as a paper pin) is used to to remove them one after the other, which after, it is preserved in water until use or sold out. Though not everyone can do this, but there are some who are good and also fast in removing them from the shells. Some are mostly the market women that sells them.
7.502 SRY