scallop shell source

[Bob Spenger]

Ocassionly the question of finding scallop shells comes up. Today I
found that they were available in my area (Southern California) from
Santa Monica Seafood, which has several retail outlets in Orange and Los
Angeles Counties. They are referred to as "baking shells" and sell here
for $3.79 for a package of four. The package is labelled "Morty the
knife man." I looked this up on the Net and did not get a website for
the company, but did get the following address:

                           Morty the Knife Man, Inc.
                           4 Manorhaven Blvd
                           Port Washington, NY 11050 USA
                           Phone: (800) 247-2511
                           Fax: (516) 767-7058
                           Comments: Shellfish Knives, fish knives,
sharpening equipment, fish handling equipment, seafood tools, seafood
merchandising systems,
                           boots, gloves, aprons and more.

I had called several restaurant supply houses in my area and kept
drawing blanks until one of them suggested S. Monica Seafood. There is a
tourist shell shop not too far away, where I first bought a scallop
shell in 2000, but that shell is rather small and fragile. The shell
store carries a variety of larger pectin shells, but these have an
unsymmetrical hinge, which I find less pleasing to the eye.

regards,

Robert