Laminas Garra de Léon. New to Me? Maybe.

Laminas Garra de Léon. New to Me? Maybe.

The Wife convinced me to get tickets for a New Year’s Eve buffet celebration at our hotel in Mexico, and I went expecting little and discovered something I don’t believe I’ve had before: Laminas Garra de Léon



The English version of the menu listed this as “Claw of Lion Tripe Laminate,” which is misleading, as no tripe was used in the preparation of this dish, though this seafood was, indeed, rather claw-like (stiff, almost fibrous segments, kind of like a separated citrus fruit) with a pleasant, non-assertive oceanic smack. I had seconds.



I suspect this is a type of scallop (it sure looked and tasted like it), but given the segmentation and somewhat toothsome sheath, it wasn’t exactly like scallops I’ve had stateside, though some Spanish dictionaries translate “garra de Léon” as “callo de hacho” which in English means “scallops.”

So maybe this food is new to me. Or maybe not.

Hammond

Hammond -

Was this your menu?

http://www.hotelbuenaventura.com.mx/eng ... -menu.html

I've seen this menu item before at different places around Mexico and always understood it to mean a Lion Claw Shell, which I just assumed to be a kind of shellfish that either looks like a lion's claw or has the same patina. Lamina (same root as laminate) just means shell or layer, and doesn't describe the preparation (though it could in a different situation). I found another site describing them as "giant scallops." Here is a musing on the same term with a picture:

http://sourcherryfarm.com/index.php?itemid=389

Sounds like it was good! I'm hoping to be in PV in March.

Santander wrote:Was this your menu?

It sure is.

The Wife and I were talking at dinner about this meal, as well as the one we had at El Arrayan (dismal) and later at Timo's (good), and my feeling was that the best meals I had in PV were on the street or at hole-in-the-wall places (hate to be so predictable in my predilections, but I can't help it; the simpler stuff was just so much more pleasing).