I kind of forgot about this one. I bought it like a year or two ago, and didn't get around to trying and then writing about it. Fortunately, being canned seafood, it had a long shelf life, and had an expiration date of well into 2026. So I opened it, and had at them. This can was minced clams from the Roland brand.
I've reported on Roland products a couple of times before--some stuffed grape leaves from Turkey on June 25th, 2022, and about Chinese mussels on May 6th, 2023. Since the products were different, and they came from separate countries I thought they qualified. If you're curious about the history of the Roland company, which is American, please see my June 25th, 2022 post. And, normally for thinner posts I include some fun facts and famous folks from the country of origin. But I already did this, in my post on Chilean brandy on March 12, 2022. Therefore, most of this post will be about clams themselves.
Clams are a type of bivalve mollusk, which can live in both fresh and salt water. There are over 15,000 different species. Some live only a year, while some can live for dozens, or even hundreds of years. The old age champ was an ocean quahog clam named Ming (aka Hafrun) found off of Iceland in 2006. Its growth lines indicated it was 507, or had been born in 1499. (That's how it got one of its names, since it was born in the Ming Dynasty.) Later analysis, including carbon 14 dating, confirmed this advanced age. Clams lack eyes, ears, and noses. Meaning their senses are quite different from ours. They also lack a brain--instead they have nerve cell clusters called ganglia. They also tend to be sequential hermaphrodites, meaning they can start out as one sex, but later switch, if the conditions dictate. Although they're hermaphroditic, they can't impregnate themselves. The appropriately, but boringly named giant clam is indeed the largest species. The overall champ in body length was a Sumatran specimen found in 1817 that measured 137 cm. (or 4 feet, 6 inches) across. And the heaviest known clam was found near Japan that weighed 337 kilos (or 734 pounds). Staying on giant clams, many people think that they can close on divers' limbs, and trap and kill them. But this is extremely doubtful. Giant clams close their shells very slowly, and to do so have to expel a lot of water. Meaning that this belief is almost certainly a myth.
Roland minced clams: The clam bits had a strong, fishy odor. They were minced, or cut into tiny shreds of brownish-white meat. The texture was a bit chewy. I like my clams in bigger pieces--the added chewy texture contributes to a better flavor. The taste of these clam pieces was similar to other canned minced clams I've had. Which are okay, but not great. Like many edibles, fresh tends to be better. I had some of these clam bits plain, and some with ranch dressing on it. (I know that might sound weird, but I didn't have anything else readily available at the time, and my cooking skills are admittedly poor.) So, if you're willing to tolerate canned seafood, this was a decent example.
Clams can be eaten in a myriad of ways--raw, boiled, steamed, baked, or fried, to start. Sometimes they're put into stews, or soups, or chowders. But arguably one of the most famous manners, at least in the U.S., is Clams Casino. The exact recipe for this dish varies a little, but it's usually clams served on the half shell, with breadcrumbs and bacon, and often peppers, parsley, lemon juice, and tabasco sauce. Clams Casino has an accepted origin story. In 1917, a Maitre d' hotel at the Little Casino hotel in Narragansett, Rhode Island, was tasked by a wealthy lady patron to come up with a new rich and delicious dish for an upcoming event. The inventor was Julius Keller, and the requestor was a Mrs. Paran Stevens. Keller developed a new way to serve clams, and his culinary creation was a massive hit. Keller named it after his place of employment, and the recipe spread from there. However, historians have pointed out some major problems with this account. The late 19th century/early 20th century menus for the Little Casino hotel (in some sources it's the Narragansett Pier Casino) burned up in a couple of fires there. But, other sources include a similar, or perhaps identical clam dish being served in the area decades before. And, supposedly Paran Stevens' wife was tracked down, but she died in 1895. Which means that unless her ghost requested that Keller make the new clam dish, the 1917 creation date seems suspect. Whenever, or whoever invented Clams Casino, no one denies that it's still popular in the U.S. in general (and maybe the world?), and in New England particularly.
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