Fried clams
 Fried clams from Woodman's of Essex in Essex, Massachusetts. | |
| Place of origin |  United States |
|---|---|
| Region or state |  New England  Massachusetts  New Brunswick  Nova Scotia |
| Created by | Lawrence "Chubby" Woodman |
| Main ingredients | Ipswich clam |
Fried clams are clams dipped in milk, floured, and deep-fried.
Fried clams are an iconic food, "to New England, what barbecue is to the South".[1] They tend to be served at seaside clam shacks (roadside restaurants).[1] Clam rolls are fried clams served in a New England–style hot dog bun.[2][3][full citation needed] They are usually served with Tartar sauce.[2][4]
Preparation
[edit]The clams are dipped in evaporated milk, then coated with some combination of regular, corn, and pastry flour.[1][5] The coated clams are fried in canola oil, soybean oil, or lard.[1][5]
The usual variant in New England is made from whole soft-shell clams, known as "whole-bellies"; these include the clam's gastrointestinal tract and have a fuller flavor.[1][6] Some restaurants remove the clam's chewy siphon called the neck.[5]
Outside New England, clam strips, made of sliced Atlantic surf clams, are more common.[7]
History
[edit]
Fried clams are mentioned as early as 1840,[8] and are listed on an 1865 menu from the Parker House hotel. How exactly they were prepared is unclear; the 1865 menu offers both "oysters—fried" and "oysters—fried in batter", but only "fried clams".[9]
Nineteenth-century American cookbooks describe several different dishes of fried clams:
- Seasoned clams sautéed in butter. (1850)[10]
- Clams breaded (with egg binding) and sautéed in butter or fat. (1850)[10] (1904)[11]
- Clams in a beaten egg batter, fried in butter, called "clam fritters". (1850)[10] (1904)[11]
The modern deep-fried, breaded version is generally credited to Lawrence "Chubby" Woodman from Essex, Massachusetts. He is said to have created the first batch on July 3, 1916,[12] in his small roadside restaurant, now Woodman's of Essex. One of his specialties was potato chips, so he had large vats for deep-frying. He used clams he had collected himself from the mud flats of the Essex River, located close to his home.[13]
Later, Thomas Soffron, of Soffron Brothers Clam Co., based in Ipswich, Massachusetts, created clam strips, which are made from the "foot" of hard-shelled sea clams. He sold these to Howard Johnson's in an exclusive deal, and as the chain expanded, they became popular throughout the country.[14][15]
Health and dietary considerations
[edit]Clams in themselves are low in cholesterol and fat, but fried clams absorb cooking fat.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Leite, David (2007-08-29). "In a '64 T-Bird, Chasing a Date With a Clam". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
- ^ a b "Sandwich Pride". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 2007-12-21. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
For the fried clam roll, sweet, full-bellied clams are dipped in batter and thrown into the deep fryer. A few minutes later they're laid into a top-loaded hot dog bun with some tartar sauce and a slice of lemon on the side.
- ^ "An Ode to the Clam". National Public Radio.
- ^ "Battered and Fried". Battered and Fried. Archived from the original on 2007-12-07. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- ^ a b c Parrish, Marlene (October 21, 2007). "A mission to find glorious fried clams". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- ^ Moskin, Julia (2005-06-13). "Dark Days for the Fried Clam, a Summer Staple". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- ^ "The great clam debate". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- ^ William E. Burton, "Thaumaturgia". In William E. Burton and Edgar A. Poe, eds., Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, and Monthly American Review, January 1840, p. 70
- ^ a b c Hannah Mary Bouvier Peterson, Martha Read, The National Cookbook, 1856 (preface dated 1850), p. 33
- ^ a b Charles Fellows, The Culinary Handbook, Chicago, 1904, p. 58
- ^ Jenkins, Nancy (August 21, 2002). "The Deep-Fried Truth About Ipswich Clams". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 17, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
- ^ Roberts, Steven V. (1983-06-05). "Fare of the Country; Yankee Staple: Clam Fry". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
- ^ "Thomas Soffron, 96, Creator of Clam Strips". The New York Times. 2004-02-28. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^ Sovich, Nina (2004-05-01). "Clam King". CNN. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
- ^ Roberts, Steven V. "Shellfish and Fat and Cholesterol". Dr. Gourmet Website. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
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