The first time I tried it, I was doing my Camino de Santiago de Compostela. I was warned the mollusks weren't that fresh so I skipped the inviting feast. No bum stomachs on my Camino, por favor. 😁
Then came another opportunity when I returned to Santiago de Compostela after a month. Got to be sure this time so off we went to Mercado de Abastos to buy media kilo of the ugly-looking shellfish called Percebes or goose barnacles.
The market vendor even happily posed with us and instructed us to have the precious merchandise cooked in the restorante across the mercado.
Boy, these ugly morsels boiled in sea water tasted heavenly! Texture's like squid, tasted like crab legs. As one fellow puts it, it's like dying and going to heaven. 😇
In the restorante, a local at the next table cheerfully showed us how to eat them. Hold them by the ugly dinosaur toe end, puncture them at the area between "toenail" and "stem", carefully so it doesn't spray, then gently pull to expose the yummy, briny flesh. Voila! Buen Provecho, everyone!