Fried clams
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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]Script error: No such module "Unsubst". They are usually served with Tartar sauce.[2][4]
Clam strips are the sliced foot of the Atlantic surf clam, served breaded and deep-fried similarly to whole fried clams. Sold frozen and sometime pre-breaded from commercial fisheries, clam strips are more common on menus outside New England.[5]
Preparation
The clams are dipped in evaporated milk, then coated with some combination of regular, corn, and pastry flour.[1][6] The coated clams are fried in canola oil, soybean oil, or lard.[1][6]
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][7] Some restaurants remove the clam's chewy siphon called the neck.[6]
History
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
Clams in themselves are low in cholesterol and fat, but fried clams absorb cooking fat.[16]
References
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- ↑ 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
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