Article: Local lampreys may land on menus These bloodsucking fish may draw grimaces, but they're a treat in Portugal

They taste like dirt, say some Midwesterners, but Minnesota researchers hope Portuguese and Spanish citizens will be willing to pay big bucks for a plateful of Great Lakes sea lampreys in the future.

In taste tests, Portuguese restaurant-goers said the freshwater lampreys are less fatty but not as tender as their ocean-going relatives, said Jeff Gunderson, a biology professor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and acting associate director of the Minnesota Sea Grant program. Earlier this year, lampreys also were smoked, prepared in four different recipes and served to a consumer panel in Duluth. One local restaurant owner said the meat tasted like soil.

But such earthiness ...

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