4 ms·

Howard Johnson's had fried clams, did not know that. While I find fried clams repulsive, my secretary loves them, especially in her home state of New Hampshire

by chasil 4y ago

Howard Johnson's had fried clams, did not know that. While I find fried clams repulsive, my secretary loves them, especially in her home state of New Hampshire. I found them at Red Lobster a few years ago, and insisted that she try them because she complained so much. She admitted they were quite good, but there were no "bellies" (a particularly repellent portion of the dish). I hope she liked HoJo's while it lasted.

ghaff 4y ago
There are clam strips and fried whole belly clams. The latter are definitely better but you apparently don't like clams in general. That said, as I get older I find most deep fried things are better not deep fried so I'll pretty much take steamers (steamed clams) by preference these days.
- Tostino 4y ago
  Yup, will go for steamed over fried seafood any day of the week...unless there are good fish and chips around.
  - euroderf 4y ago
    I propose a clams v oysters debate. Cos oysters are magnificently tastier.
  - abrugsch 4y ago
    Living in the UK, of the 3 I only get access to good (and bad) fish and chips. I used to live in the Boston area and fried clams or steamers were a particular thing my dad used to go nuts for. I loved them too and miss them dearly. I had no idea that HoJo's sold them. In fact I think I only remember going to a HoJo's once in my life
    - ghaff 4y ago
      Mussels are a reasonable alternative to steamed clams and I've had those on a number of occasions in London. Not sure how available they are more broadly.
      - abrugsch 4y ago
        As much as I like mussels, they are NOT the same. (They are readily available in my area and moules marinere are something I do enjoy, especially in a nice pernod cream...) But New England fried belly clams have a taste that just can't (or more likely won't) be replicated elsewhere. Along with a good cheese steak but that's a whole 'nother thread ;)
nsajko 4y ago
> Howard Johnson's had fried clams, did not know that. Funnily, I suppose there's many people who know about Howard Johnson's serving clams, even though we know almost nothing else about the chain. This is thanks to Zappa's song/musical story Billy the Mountain, prominently featuring Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (the force behind The Turtles) on most memorable performances. Excerpt: They left that night, crunchin' across the mojave desert Their voices echoing through the canyons of your minds "Ethel, want to get a cuppa cawfee?" "there's a Howard Johnsons! want to eat some clams?" The first noteworthy piece of real estate they destroyed was Edwards Air Force Base And to this very day, 'wing nuts' and data reduction clerks alike Speak in reverent whispers about that fateful night when Test stand number one and the rocket sled itself got LUNCHED! By a famous mountain-in and his small, wooden wife
- listenallyall 4y ago
  Lol, no. It's because they sold HJ fried clams in the frozen food section of supermarkets for decades, and it was a featured item on the actual restaurant's menus (like IHOP = pancakes). Frank Zappa is cool but even his most ardent fans have to concede that his songs and lyrics are pretty obscure.
  - JasonFruit 4y ago
    I can't disagree with any of that, but I only know about it from that song, so, anecdote two, I guess.
  - nsajko 4y ago
    Your comment is implicitly backed by a false dichotomy. Some people (based in USA and old enough, for example) will know about it from direct experience. Other people know about it only from Billy the Mountain.
    - listenallyall 4y ago
      Thanks Mr. Literal. Obviously not true that nobody knows it from the song, since the OP posted it himself. But the ratio is likely 9-to-1 or better.
jmclnx 4y ago
>Howard Johnson's had fried clam They were clam strips from what I remember, and I am with your secretary. Clam Strips are a waste of calories :) But I was rather surprised when friends from Atlanta GA visited and I took them to a place in New Hampshire, which I am sure your secretary has bee at many times. They thought Fried Clams were repellent, which was a big surprise to me. The ended up getting scallops, but they did not believe were real because they were so large.
- moistly 4y ago
  Unfortunately, counterfeit scallops are common. https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/slideshow/counterfeit-foods https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/sl... https://www.publichealth.com.ng/how-to-identify-fake-scallops/ https://www.publichealth.com.ng/how-to-identify-fake-scallop...
  - thematrixturtle 4y ago
    No, they aren't. https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/39179/are-cheap-scallops-made-from-flounders-or-stingrays https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/39179/are-cheap...
    - moistly 4y ago
      And yet I can buy fake scallops. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/IQF-imitation-breaded-scallop_1600082143642.html?spm=a2700.7724857.normal_offer.d_image.40c046ffKp8qgX https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/IQF-imitation-breaded...
      - JasonFruit 4y ago
        There's a difference between "fake" and "counterfeit"; the latter is when it's fake and you're up to no good.
        moistly 4y ago
hlehmann 4y ago
I'm in my sixties. I haven't been in a Howard Johnson's since I was a kid, but I distinctly remember the smell when walking into one, the smell of fried clams. It told me that we were on a vacation trip.
danachow 4y ago
> She admitted they were quite good, but there were no "bellies" (a particularly repellent portion of the dish). I mean for, you, maybe. But throughout the eastern US, clams in all sort are not an obscure food item. Steamed clams are a common preparation (which is famously referenced in one of thr most memeified Simpsons scenes) and that is served as the whole clam not just the “strip”. Also HoJos was pretty much responsible for popularizing the strip only variation throughout the US. https://newengland.com/today/food/main-dishes/fish-seafood/fried-clams-bellies-vs-strips/ https://newengland.com/today/food/main-dishes/fish-seafood/f... Whole fried clams may not be popular outside of the Northeast, they’re not exactly obscure. As for HoJo style strips, it’s not like you can’t just get a fucking box in any supermarket freezer aisle. These are a Midwest food more than a New Hampshire food. Your secretary was humoring your “insistence”. Looking at the other comments, it’s amusing how this post has pretty much drawn out the xenophobic middle American rubes of HN.

by chasil 4y ago

ghaff 4y ago

There are clam strips and fried whole belly clams. The latter are definitely better but you apparently don't like clams in general. That said, as I get older I find most deep fried things are better not deep fried so I'll pretty much take steamers (steamed clams) by preference these days.

Tostino 4y ago
Yup, will go for steamed over fried seafood any day of the week...unless there are good fish and chips around.
- euroderf 4y ago
  I propose a clams v oysters debate. Cos oysters are magnificently tastier.
- abrugsch 4y ago
  Living in the UK, of the 3 I only get access to good (and bad) fish and chips. I used to live in the Boston area and fried clams or steamers were a particular thing my dad used to go nuts for. I loved them too and miss them dearly. I had no idea that HoJo's sold them. In fact I think I only remember going to a HoJo's once in my life
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Mussels are a reasonable alternative to steamed clams and I've had those on a number of occasions in London. Not sure how available they are more broadly.
    - abrugsch 4y ago
      As much as I like mussels, they are NOT the same. (They are readily available in my area and moules marinere are something I do enjoy, especially in a nice pernod cream...) But New England fried belly clams have a taste that just can't (or more likely won't) be replicated elsewhere. Along with a good cheese steak but that's a whole 'nother thread ;)

nsajko 4y ago

> Howard Johnson's had fried clams, did not know that. Funnily, I suppose there's many people who know about Howard Johnson's serving clams, even though we know almost nothing else about the chain. This is thanks to Zappa's song/musical story Billy the Mountain, prominently featuring Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (the force behind The Turtles) on most memorable performances. Excerpt: They left that night, crunchin' across the mojave desert Their voices echoing through the canyons of your minds "Ethel, want to get a cuppa cawfee?" "there's a Howard Johnsons! want to eat some clams?" The first noteworthy piece of real estate they destroyed was Edwards Air Force Base And to this very day, 'wing nuts' and data reduction clerks alike Speak in reverent whispers about that fateful night when Test stand number one and the rocket sled itself got LUNCHED! By a famous mountain-in and his small, wooden wife

listenallyall 4y ago
Lol, no. It's because they sold HJ fried clams in the frozen food section of supermarkets for decades, and it was a featured item on the actual restaurant's menus (like IHOP = pancakes). Frank Zappa is cool but even his most ardent fans have to concede that his songs and lyrics are pretty obscure.
- JasonFruit 4y ago
  I can't disagree with any of that, but I only know about it from that song, so, anecdote two, I guess.
- nsajko 4y ago
  Your comment is implicitly backed by a false dichotomy. Some people (based in USA and old enough, for example) will know about it from direct experience. Other people know about it only from Billy the Mountain.
  - listenallyall 4y ago
    Thanks Mr. Literal. Obviously not true that nobody knows it from the song, since the OP posted it himself. But the ratio is likely 9-to-1 or better.

jmclnx 4y ago

>Howard Johnson's had fried clam They were clam strips from what I remember, and I am with your secretary. Clam Strips are a waste of calories :) But I was rather surprised when friends from Atlanta GA visited and I took them to a place in New Hampshire, which I am sure your secretary has bee at many times. They thought Fried Clams were repellent, which was a big surprise to me. The ended up getting scallops, but they did not believe were real because they were so large.

moistly 4y ago
Unfortunately, counterfeit scallops are common. https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/slideshow/counterfeit-foods https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/sl... https://www.publichealth.com.ng/how-to-identify-fake-scallops/ https://www.publichealth.com.ng/how-to-identify-fake-scallop...
- thematrixturtle 4y ago
  No, they aren't. https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/39179/are-cheap-scallops-made-from-flounders-or-stingrays https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/39179/are-cheap...
  - moistly 4y ago
    And yet I can buy fake scallops. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/IQF-imitation-breaded-scallop_1600082143642.html?spm=a2700.7724857.normal_offer.d_image.40c046ffKp8qgX https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/IQF-imitation-breaded...
    - JasonFruit 4y ago
      There's a difference between "fake" and "counterfeit"; the latter is when it's fake and you're up to no good.
      - moistly 4y ago

hlehmann 4y ago

I'm in my sixties. I haven't been in a Howard Johnson's since I was a kid, but I distinctly remember the smell when walking into one, the smell of fried clams. It told me that we were on a vacation trip.

danachow 4y ago

> She admitted they were quite good, but there were no "bellies" (a particularly repellent portion of the dish). I mean for, you, maybe. But throughout the eastern US, clams in all sort are not an obscure food item. Steamed clams are a common preparation (which is famously referenced in one of thr most memeified Simpsons scenes) and that is served as the whole clam not just the “strip”. Also HoJos was pretty much responsible for popularizing the strip only variation throughout the US. https://newengland.com/today/food/main-dishes/fish-seafood/fried-clams-bellies-vs-strips/ https://newengland.com/today/food/main-dishes/fish-seafood/f... Whole fried clams may not be popular outside of the Northeast, they’re not exactly obscure. As for HoJo style strips, it’s not like you can’t just get a fucking box in any supermarket freezer aisle. These are a Midwest food more than a New Hampshire food. Your secretary was humoring your “insistence”. Looking at the other comments, it’s amusing how this post has pretty much drawn out the xenophobic middle American rubes of HN.