Fried clams

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".<ref name=nyt/> They tend to be served at seaside clam shacks (roadside restaurants).<ref name=nyt>Template:Cite news</ref> Clam rolls are fried clams served in a New England–style hot dog bun.<ref name=dos>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Full citation needed They are usually served with Tartar sauce.<ref name=dos/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Preparation

The clams are dipped in evaporated milk, then coated with some combination of regular, corn, and pastry flour.<ref name=nyt/><ref name=ppg/> The coated clams are fried in canola oil, soybean oil, or lard.<ref name=nyt/><ref name=ppg>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name=nyt/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some restaurants remove the clam's chewy siphon called the neck.<ref name=ppg/>

Outside New England, clam strips, made of sliced Atlantic surf clams, are more common.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

History

File:Clams-Fried menu 001a.jpg

1865 menu with fried clams and oysters

Fried clams are mentioned as early as 1840,<ref>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</ref> 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".<ref name=menu>see the Parker House menu from 1865 with fried clams and oysters to the right</ref>

Nineteenth-century American cookbooks describe several different dishes of fried clams:

• Seasoned clams sautéed in butter. (1850)<ref name="Peterson">Hannah Mary Bouvier Peterson, Martha Read, The National Cookbook, 1856 (preface dated 1850), p. 33</ref>
• Clams breaded (with egg binding) and sautéed in butter or fat. (1850)<ref name="Peterson" /> (1904)<ref name="Fellows">Charles Fellows, The Culinary Handbook, Chicago, 1904, p. 58</ref>
• Clams in a beaten egg batter, fried in butter, called "clam fritters". (1850)<ref name="Peterson" /> (1904)<ref name="Fellows"/>

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,<ref name="truth">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=cnn>Template:Cite news</ref>

Health and dietary considerations

Clams in themselves are low in cholesterol and fat, but fried clams absorb cooking fat.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>