lefty
09-10-2008, 04:56 PM
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080910/koddities/oddity_lucky_lunch
By Bassem Mroue, The Associated Press
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BEIRUT, Lebanon - It was the kind of lunch that pays for itself.
Lebanese restaurant owner Raymond Salha and his wife were having oysters for lunch when she made a stunning discovery. There was a cluster of 26 pearls inside an oyster on her plate.
Salha says the find 10 days ago at his Al-Fanar Restaurant in the southern port city of Tyre was a "total surprise."
He and his wife Amal counted a total of 26 pearls of varying sizes inside the oyster, some very small.
Although the pearls are not believed to be worth a lot of money, Salha says their importance is in the sheer number found inside a single shell.
The pearls were in one of about 200 oysters they had cooked that day.
The city's maritime museum, which sent a team to investigate and took the oyster away for testing, said it counted 25 pearls.
A few days later, the oyster was preserved and returned by the museum, along with the pearls. Salha, who insists the oyster still contains 26 pearls, plans to keep it on display at his restaurant.
Oysters fished off the Lebanese coast are regularly on the restaurant's menu in the summer, but Salha and his wife had never seen anything like this find.
Once, long ago, they found a single pearl while opening an oyster.
Oysters from the Lebanese waters of the Mediterranean are of a different variety than those usually served in European restaurants, which are larger in size.
Salha said he buys a kilogram of oysters for about US$10 from the fishermen during oyster season between August and October.
He showed the oyster Wednesday to reporters and visitors, and later placed it on a shelf on the restaurant wall, covering it with a cloth for protection.
Asked whether he plans to get in touch with The Guinness Book of Records about the discovery, Salha said not for now.
"If they read about it and find that it is a record, then they can come and record it themselves," he said.
By Bassem Mroue, The Associated Press
ADVERTISEMENT
BEIRUT, Lebanon - It was the kind of lunch that pays for itself.
Lebanese restaurant owner Raymond Salha and his wife were having oysters for lunch when she made a stunning discovery. There was a cluster of 26 pearls inside an oyster on her plate.
Salha says the find 10 days ago at his Al-Fanar Restaurant in the southern port city of Tyre was a "total surprise."
He and his wife Amal counted a total of 26 pearls of varying sizes inside the oyster, some very small.
Although the pearls are not believed to be worth a lot of money, Salha says their importance is in the sheer number found inside a single shell.
The pearls were in one of about 200 oysters they had cooked that day.
The city's maritime museum, which sent a team to investigate and took the oyster away for testing, said it counted 25 pearls.
A few days later, the oyster was preserved and returned by the museum, along with the pearls. Salha, who insists the oyster still contains 26 pearls, plans to keep it on display at his restaurant.
Oysters fished off the Lebanese coast are regularly on the restaurant's menu in the summer, but Salha and his wife had never seen anything like this find.
Once, long ago, they found a single pearl while opening an oyster.
Oysters from the Lebanese waters of the Mediterranean are of a different variety than those usually served in European restaurants, which are larger in size.
Salha said he buys a kilogram of oysters for about US$10 from the fishermen during oyster season between August and October.
He showed the oyster Wednesday to reporters and visitors, and later placed it on a shelf on the restaurant wall, covering it with a cloth for protection.
Asked whether he plans to get in touch with The Guinness Book of Records about the discovery, Salha said not for now.
"If they read about it and find that it is a record, then they can come and record it themselves," he said.