What on Earth is a piure?

Piure sobre un ostion” by sergio.majluf, shared via CC BY 2.0

Piure (scientific name: Pyura chilensis) is a traditional South American seafood dish. It is also a tunicate that looks like red squishy tomatoes (or organs) inside a rock. It is often found on the coasts of Chile and Peru. While it is born male, it becomes hermaphroditic at puberty, and has the ability to self-fertilise if left alone.

Outside of its own reproductive system, it is alleged to have an effect on that of humans too with a group of Chilean women claiming that eating large amounts of piure increased their chances of multiple births. There are also suggestions that piure can act as an aphrodisiac and improve erections in people with penises. To be honest, I’d take that all with a pinch of salt. And a dash of pepper.

(via Atlas Obscura)

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