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In the cool, rippling shallows of the Rio Grande River, tiny black snails cling to smooth stones.

In Jamaica's northeast parish of Portland, these creatures, known as bussu, carry a reputation far bigger than their shells.

According to local resident Lee Lee, the real secret to conceiving and bringing forth her children was the bussu soup.

"A it make me get my two pickney," she told THE WEEKEND STAR, adding that she grew up consuming bowls of the soup.

Bussu is a freshwater river snail, much smaller than wilks (periwinkles), but just as treasured in local cuisine and folklore. Locals describe it as something between a tiny snail and a pimento seed. It clings to river stones with a suction foot that must be cleaned.

Bussu soup starts with simple ingredients: shelled bussu, a generous helping of ground provisions like yam, banana, and dumplings, plus crayfish, janaga (river mussels), and sometimes 'kunk' (conch).

"It make the woman dem strong. Fi man, it build up yuh stamina and make yuh sperm count high, and make yuh can get pickney all when yuh old, old, old!" Lee Lee said.

"If yuh want twin or triplet, then drink bussu soup."

This isn't just casual talk; Lee Lee swears by it.

"It work fi me because me get two kids, so it work fi me."

She doesn't just believe in bussu's power on a personal level; she connects it to national concerns about Jamaica's declining birth rates.

"Mi hear inna the news say nuh baby nah make again, and birth rate low, fertility this, fertility that! Dem nah drink up dem bussu soup," she said, shaking her head, convinced the beloved Portland delicacy holds answers that modern Jamaica is overlooking.

Fishing for bussu is no easy feat, it's a practised art. "The best time fi catch bussu is later in the evenings," Lee Lee shared.

"A dem time yah dem come up, and yuh see, 'cause dem can disguise themself as stone, yuh will nuh see them if yuh nuh know weh yah look for."

Once caught, they are scalded in salt water, a step that both cooks and loosens them. From there, bussu can star in soup, stew peas, curried shrimp, crayfish dishes, or even get blended into a punch.

"Bussu wid cow skin blend up and make punch good, good. It gi we whole heap a energy," Lee Lee said with a grin.