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Foreign Grocery Friday: 'Queenies,' or Queen Scallops on the Isle of Man

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

They're the cutest little scallops you'll likely ever eat, and some of the rarest too, since Queen Scallops—or "Manx Queenies" as they're more popularly called—are a specialty of the Isle of Man. This small island situated in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland is technically British, but also technically not. It's no member of the EU, it prints its own Pound Sterling paper money and coins, has its own postal system and government and proudly flies its triskelion flag seemingly every few feet.

A two-hour jet catamaran ferry trip from Liverpool brings travelers into the capital harbour of Douglas, and into the land of the Queenie. When we visited the island for the heck of it last week, we rented a car and headed to the west side of the island, for a smaller town experience and some Queen Scallops in the castle-topped town of Peel.

The taste: Just as succulent as regular scallops, the Queenies differentiate themselves by being both way tinier and much sweeter. Unfortunately this means it's easy to pop one after the other into your mouth and polish off the plate quickly. Resist the urge, as Queenies are not only rare, but the harvesting of them is highly regulated. There'll be no all-you-can-eat deals like on cheap shrimp at Red Lobster.

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