From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
1. a marine bivalve mollusk, Pecten maximus, with a distinctive fan-shaped shell, the symbol for St. James, called Santiago in Spain, where the world's best-known shrine to the saint is erected, and St. Jacques in France, where scallops are used in the dish Coquilles St. Jacques. A bay scallop is a tiny variety of the scallop, usually no bigger than a marble. Bay scallops are considered sweeter and more delicate than the more common, less expensive sea scallops, which are larger, up to 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter, with sweet flesh that is not quite as tender and delicate as that of the bay scallop. 2. a thin round or oval boneless slice of meat or fish, known as escalope in French.
