A Quahog purple pearl was almost eaten by a woman named Lindsay Hasz, and the story is now making headlines. Hasz and her husband, Christopher Hasz, were enjoying date night and eating a plate of frutti di mare at Montalcino Ristorante Italiano in Washington when she bit into a Quahog purple pearl worth over $600.
A Quahog purple pearl that is valued at over $600 was discovered in a plate of pasta.
Few weeks ago, Lindsay Hasz and her husband, Christopher Hasz, who are from Issaquah, Washington had a rare date night “without their children” at Montalcino Ristorante Italiano.
Mrs. Hasz ordered a plate of frutti di mare – which is an Italian type of pizza or pasta that may be served with a variety of raw and cooked shellfish such as hard clam also known as a quahog scampi, mussels, and squid.
While enjoying her seafood dish, she bit into something hard that almost broke a tooth. The woman shared:
“I felt like I almost broke my tooth when I first bit it. It was pretty dark in the restaurant, so it was hard to tell what it was, but when I looked at it closer, it looked totally round and perfect. Too perfect.”
Upon closer inspection she discovered that she almost swallowed a Quahog purple pearl. Hasz took the pearl to gemologist Ted Irwin, president of the Northwest Geological Laboratory and director of the Northwest Geological Institute, who revealed:
“The Mr. Skeptic in me originally may have dissuaded her at first since a lot of pearls people find aren’t really anything most of the time. But I took a look at it, and sure enough, she did have Quahog pearl.”
More info on the hard clam, which produced the rare purple pearl:
Hard clams are quite common throughout New England, north into Canada, and all down the Eastern seaboard of the United States to Florida, but are particularly abundant between Cape Cod and New Jersey, where seeding and harvesting them is an important commercial form of aquacultur.The quahog is the official shellfish of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The species has also been introduced and is farmed on the Pacific coast of North America and in Great Britain and continental Europe. It reproduces sexually by females and males shedding gametes into the water.
Hasz said she plans on turning her pearl into a necklace and keeping it as a good luck charm. The restaurant owners – Fernando and Cindy Nardone – said they were “so excited” about the headlines, and added:
“We only serve the finest for our customers. Coming to our restaurant is like winning the lottery!”
People are now flocking to the eatery and ordering the frutti di mare with hopes of finding another exotic pearl.
