If things had been slightly different, this would have been in Health, not Suburban...
Last night, I made some fried monkfish tails. It was actually one tail that I cut in two and it was a particularly fat one, making it difficult to judge timings, but they were definitely cooked by usual measures -- flesh firm and flakey and hot etc.
Anyway, I'd almost finished mine when the kabbess cut into hers... And shrieked! There was a live worm poking out of the middle of it, wiggling round.
We immediately did what anybody would do these days -- straight on Google. Turns out that it was an anikasis worm, which are not uncommon in monkfish (and cod). And the piece was absolutely RIDDLED with them. They were all dead except for the original offender. But if ypu DO ingest a live one then you're in trouble -- extreme stomach cramps, diarrhoea and maybe even allergic reactions. It's a dead-end for the worm, so it only lasts three weeks. But still!
Hoping that if I had ingested a live one, we might be able to do something if we acted fast, I phoned NHS Direct. They phoned back with a nurse in 10 minutes -- pretty good, really. She could offer nothing but sympathy, however -- I had to prompt her for every bit of info about what to do if this or that symptom develops.
Anyway, next morning we both seem to be OK, so I guess that the kabbess had none in her mouthful and any I ate (for there were definitely some in my piece) were dead. What a relief! It's put me off monkfish for a while, though. And although they couldn't have known about the presence of a common parasite, Waitrose will certainly be getting a request for a refund for an inedible meal!
Last night, I made some fried monkfish tails. It was actually one tail that I cut in two and it was a particularly fat one, making it difficult to judge timings, but they were definitely cooked by usual measures -- flesh firm and flakey and hot etc.
Anyway, I'd almost finished mine when the kabbess cut into hers... And shrieked! There was a live worm poking out of the middle of it, wiggling round.
We immediately did what anybody would do these days -- straight on Google. Turns out that it was an anikasis worm, which are not uncommon in monkfish (and cod). And the piece was absolutely RIDDLED with them. They were all dead except for the original offender. But if ypu DO ingest a live one then you're in trouble -- extreme stomach cramps, diarrhoea and maybe even allergic reactions. It's a dead-end for the worm, so it only lasts three weeks. But still!
Hoping that if I had ingested a live one, we might be able to do something if we acted fast, I phoned NHS Direct. They phoned back with a nurse in 10 minutes -- pretty good, really. She could offer nothing but sympathy, however -- I had to prompt her for every bit of info about what to do if this or that symptom develops.
Anyway, next morning we both seem to be OK, so I guess that the kabbess had none in her mouthful and any I ate (for there were definitely some in my piece) were dead. What a relief! It's put me off monkfish for a while, though. And although they couldn't have known about the presence of a common parasite, Waitrose will certainly be getting a request for a refund for an inedible meal!
