John Dory. A high quality, plump, flattish fish with a golden sheen, with an ugly but amiable face. It was first associated with Zeus, then with St Peter, as evidenced by the ‘finger marks’ left by him when he picked it up to remove a coin from its mouth to pay some taxes.
Fan mussel. A shellfish which grows up to 40 cm (16") long but which otherwise has the appearance of a large, slightly elongated mussel. The adductor muscle is edible.
Hedgehog fungus. Cream-coloured mushrooms, excellent to eat, easily found in woods from late summer to late autumn (US: fall). They have a sort of downy white stem leading up to a cap which is centrally depressed and under which are masses of little spines, giving the mushroom its English name. It is quite a good mushroom to collect as it is easily distinguished from other mushrooms, is a relative of the chanterelle, and, like it, has good flavour and good retention of texture on long cooking.
Velvet swimming crab. One of the largest of the swimming crabs. A small spider crab with sweet, flaky white flesh. It has good flavour but is too small to pick, so is used in soups.
Atherine, Mediterranean silverside or sandsmelt. A common Mediterranean marine fish, usually deep-fried, it is a small, silvery fish similar to the argentine. When tiny it is treated in the same way as whitebait. This fish grows up to 15 cm.
