#tuatua

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#2637 - Paphies donacina - Southern Tuatua 

One of a genus of large edible beach-dwelling bivalves endemic to Aotearoa. Other include the pipi (P. australis), tuatua (P. subtriangulata) and toheroa (P. ventricosa).

The later was and is a traditional food for Māori, with wars fought over access to the best beds, and the shellfish transported around the country in bags made from southern bull kelp (Durvillaea poha).

Toheroa soup became an international delicacy after the Royal Tour of Prince Edward in 1920, but since 1979 harvesting has been mostly banned. To little effect - illegal poaching, poorly policed customary harvesting, vehicle driving on beaches, pollution, reduction in fresh water coming onto beaches, and disease, have all prevented a recovery in the bivalve's population.

Timaru, Aotearoa New Zealand

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#2417 - Paphies subtriangulata - Tuatua

AKA Erycina subangulata, Mactra subtriangulata, Mesodesma cuneata, reentsii, and spissa and Paphies porrecta.

A beach-dwelling Mesodesmatid bivalve, endemic to the islands of Aotearoa, where it was and still is widely collected for food. These days there are strict bag limits on how many you dig out of the sand.

The large shell is asymmetrical, with the hinge at one side. Its closest relative, the pipi (Paphies australis), has a symmetrical shell.

Paritutu Rock, New Plymouth, New Zealand.

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This is the second video in our huge Aotearoa New Zealand food series. We’re journeying from the top to the bottom of the country in a campervan, taking you into the heart of our nation’s phenomenal food culture. In this video we share an important part of New Zealand’s food identity by gathering food from the land. We’re at the top of Te Ika-a-Māui, the North Island and we're hunting for New Zealand shellfish. We take you to the beach to collect a feed of tuatua, a delicious NZ clam and show you how to cook your catch by whipping up a spaghetti vongole.