Talk:Fried clams

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I wish someone would write an article about how deep-fry cooks in restaurants can cook enormous batches of things like fried clams or battered shrimp without:

1.) having them all stick together, either in the batter bowl, or in the oil itself, or both
2.) having them stick to your fingers
3.) and how to do the above two things quickly -- I can do the damn things individually using chopstocks etc., but I can't get very many into the oil very quickly.


There has to be a technique that I don't know -- and I'm a *very* experienced cook. Otherwise, how could a single guy in a roadside clamshack in deepest Maine, for instance, turn out order after order of fried clams while also taking care of other aspects of the business?

Or does everyone just buy frozen, pre-battered ones these days, that they just dump directly from the package into the oil?

An inquiring mind (and stomach) wants to know.... Hayford Peirce 01:18, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I didn't come here to quibble over semantics, but "clam strips" are the sliced "foot" of a large sea clam, not really "clams without the bellies." The source is quite different from native fried clams, those being clams "with the bellies". 204.110.112.2 19:01, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fried Clams a New England thing?

I always thought the New Englanders boiled their seafood with Old Orchard Beach as an exception.68.238.5.12 18:34, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Original research moved here

... although the fact that fried clams can plainly be seen on digitally preserved menus from as early as 1865 makes this a dubious claim at best... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk • contribs) 06:09, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Mr. Norton, you apparently closely monitor this all important fried clams entry. . .or perhaps you're a paid agent of Woodman's restaurant. . .as you pounced on my edit in short order (as it were). In your note regarding moving my edit to the main article to this discussion page, you say "I dont see fried clams on that image. I see fried oysters on another one. They may be "pan fried" and not deep fried, and not battered." The link I provided is to a 4 page set. The reference to fried clams is on page 4--in the "Supper" section just under the "Oyster" section. You may have a point about the fried clams being possibly pan fried, but that remains true to this day. Of course, one can deep fry in a pan--as is done with good fried chicken; so that seems a poor argument. In any case, there is a specific entry for oysters "fried in batter." It seems odd that oysters would be fried in batter, but that clams (and scallops and cod, which are also listed as being fried) would be simply sauteed. Perhaps more research is in order, but that's already true for the whole article. Like many that grew up going to Woodman's, I've always heard that their claim to "inventing" the fried clam is just a load of hooey. Albeit, tasty tasty hooey. jpramas (talk) 08:15, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

  • Its a collection of 9K images, and your page has no clams mentioned. The 4th page has fried oysters and fried battered oysters. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 08:21, 14 December 2007 (UTC)
  • There it is, excellent research you have done. I have reworded it, but you get full credit, and you should write to various food magazines, and if you have a blog, add it to your blog, so you get credit for the research. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 08:34, 14 December 2007 (UTC)


Thanks much for the props, Richard. I'll have to check if I'm really the first one to find this out about fried clams. I made a couple of changes to the article for clarity. Also, the New York Public Library needs to be credited for the picture of the original menu--and it seems they expect some sort of contribution even from non-profits--so it may be better to link to their site rather that have the picture sited on Wikipedia. More soon. . .jpramas (talk) 20:14, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

There is a link when you click on the image. The menu is in the public domain, since it was published in 1865. Its great that ephemera like menus were preserved. Primary documents are so important to food history. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 00:33, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

  • Everything you write in this article must have a citation. Anything source must include the material in the sentence for which it is being cited. You cannot make up sentences and then cite a source that does not have that information in it. Any statements that are not supported directly in the text of a citation will be removed. Cumulus Clouds (talk) 03:26, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

You guys have completely ruined this article. WTF? The references are longer than the text. They just clams. Fried. Not nuclear fission. Take your campaign elsewhere, please. And for the love of everything good, use the "Show preview" button before you save. Thank you. --Bwpach (talk) 22:43, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

???? As the original creator of this article in 2003, I think it's wonderful that the article is now well-referenced and that the references are longer than the text. What's the problem with that? Nobody's forcing anybody to look at them. Dpbsmith (talk) 03:02, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Seriously. . .what would Bwpach prefer? "Mmmm, fried clams. Yum!" One wonders. . . jpramas (talk) 07:11, 22 December 2007 (UTC)