Clam fritters

The talk about crab cakes and regional differences has reminded me of my puzzlement about clam fritters.

To my Connecticut grandmother, clam fritters were ground clams mixed with some crushed saltines and eggs, made into patties and fried in butter.

I've ordered clam fritters in restaurants in various places, without any resemblance to my grandmother's style. In Chincoteague Virginia, the fritter tasted like it had a biscuit base, and was baked. Kind of like a hush puppy with some clams. In San Diego, the clam fritters ordered turned out to be fried clams. I confess that I've not ordered them in trips to New England, which would have made sense but I don't think I ever saw them on a menu there. Not even in Ipswich.

So I would appreciate any encounters with clam fritters.

The best ones I ever had were on the Washington coast, on the ocean side of the Olympic Peninsula, where we went out at dawn and dug our own razor clams and fixed grandmother's recipe right in our little beach cottage. There are few things more fun than digging razor clams!

And can just imagine the atmosphere of digging clams and fixing them pretty much on the spot!

...I found a link to a Shaker community in Maine that fixes the fritters in my grandmother's manner.

http://www.maineshakers.com/fritters.html

The trick with fresh-dug clams is that you have to soak them in a bucket of water with a little cornmeal in it to get them to divulge themselves of whatever sand is in their digestive systems. Otherwise, crunch away!

Ill admit... Ive never really liked clams. But a clam fritter is something I could get into. We just moved to the south sound and clams abound here but Ive never actually went clamming because I never liked them.. plus, Im a bit frightened of gathering my own shellfish for some reason.

Minterbrook Oysters is right down the street: http://www.greenpeople.org/searchResults.cfm?memid=17309
I highly recommend their oysters.

I know they sell clams too and Im going to have to go get some so I can try your gramma's recipe. I bet I could make it with geoduck, which Ive been beyond curious about since moving here.

Having spent some time in the San Juans, I know just how gorgeous that country is.

Now, do you think a geoduck is better than a razor?

Im on the Case Inlet and I wake up every day and cant believe Im blessed enough to live here.

I have no idea what a geoduck even tastes like but Ive been really curious. All I know is that they look really weird and they scared the hell out of me the first time I walked on the beach at low tide and they spit water at me. The chinese evidently consider them delicacies and they can sell for upwards of 30 bucks each.