Is that Oakley - thermowhelkular protection...?

A French friend of my mum's is a cordon bleu chef, and she loves cooking seafood. Which is a shame, because I prefer my fish and crustaneans alive and swimming. I'm just about OK with cod and haddock, but anything else doesn't work. My folks took me over with them to France when I was 4 or so, and I apparently puked quite spectacularly when she fed me periwinkles. They took me over again aged 16, and again she tried the periwinkles. I can report that they have a texture somewhere between chewing gum and a pencil eraser, and the taste is a faint but distinct combination of fish and sewage works. Being older, I managed to avoid puking that time, but it was a close run thing - chewed one, managed to force myself to swallow (see Mum, being able to swallow chewing gum *does* have benefits!) and said "sorry, I don't like that".

Graham.