Posts from — July 2008

Dig up an organic meal with local flavor

Written by: Chris O’Hara

One of the advantages to being the largest island in the United States is the accessibility to great seafood. With several hundred miles of shoreline, and plenty of protected waters on both the north and south shores, it is easy to see why Long Island was one of the major clam producers in the world. The hard clam (also called the northern quahog) used to be found in abundance all over Long Island where the water is shallow and the bottom sandy. Clams like to burrow into the sand, leaving only their “siphon” above the sand, allowing them to gather nutrients from the water, and dispose of waste. In clean water, left to their own devices, clams take about three years to get to eating size. On Long Island, littleneck clams dominate, but cherrystone, chowder, and soft-shell (steamers) varieties are also found where the intrepid clammer searches.

According to Roger Tollefsen, the director of the New York Seafood Council, in 1975 more than 675,000 bushels of hard clams were harvested from Great South Bay alone, and there were more than 8,000 licensed baymen. Since then, the commercial harvest of hard clams in New York has declined by more than 90 percent, and the number of baymen harvesting clams has decreased to several hundred. “This dramatic decline means that New York is no longer be able to export its clams,” says Tollefsen, adding, “The entire clam harvest is now consumed in New York.” Where clammers used to measure their catches by bushels and weight, the smaller amounts are now counted by number, giving an indication of the steep decline in recent harvests. Whether the decline in clam harvests is attributable to global warming, pollution, natural growth cycles, or a combination of these factors is being studied.

Tollefsen is not overly appreciative of current efforts to revitalize the industry. “Despite millions of dollars in research, reduced fishing effort, and significant progress in reaching environmental water-quality goals, the cause for the decline of the hard clam is still not clear,” he says. “Some groups maintain that ‘overfishing’ of the resource was the cause, and they have promoted sanctuaries as a way of encouraging recovery. However, baymen generally accept the fact that while the remaining shellfish do spawn, few of that next generation survive. A likely bottleneck in the reproductive cycle involves a lack of food for the baby shellfish to eat. This food deficiency seems to be tied directly to ‘successful’ efforts to reduce the nutrients that enter our waters. While too many nutrients may be harmful to a bay, too few nutrients will result in the starvation of the next generation of shellfish and finfish.”

That being said, almost no matter where you are on Long Island, you are within striking distance of a good clam. Islanders living on the South Shore are in proximity to what was once the United States’ biggest clam bed: the Great South Bay, where miles of protected inshore bays and waterways should make a perfect home for raising clams. Good clamming waters can be found from Nassau County all the way to Southampton Town. Out East, the Peconic Bay and Gardiners’s Bay systems offer a range of active clam beds. On the North Shore, the inshore areas of the Long Island Sound are also active. In my hometown, Cold Spring Harbor, you can see local clammers working their rakes in the harbor on a
daily basis.

Clammers (or “baymen,” as they are sometimes called) use a variety of methods to put clams on your table, but all of them involve extremely hard manual labor. Harvesting clams essentially involves using a hand rake and plenty of elbow grease. Depending on the depth of the water and the composition of the bottom, a bayman will employ different styles of rakes to scour the bottom in search of live clams, and bring them to the surface. Certain conditions call for tongs, which consist of two metal baskets connected to long handles, which are used to scoop up clams from softer bottom surfaces. Both raking and “tonging” clams requires a good deal of physical effort and skill—and balance, considering that the work is done from small open boats that range from 20 to 30 feet in length.

Other techniques include “donkey” raking, which is done while standing in shallow water, and “hacking,” where garden rakes are used to pry clams up from exposed mudflats at low tide. “Treading” is the method by which a clammer will use his feet to detect clams under the surface, and dig them up. This is the preferred method for the amateur clammer  to employ in the summer. (Please note that many communities on the Island require a shellfish permit to rake clams, so make sure to check with your local town hall). Like the game Othello, the successful treading technique takes a “minute to learn, but a lifetime to master.” Essentially, you walk backwards slowly through shallow water, feeling with the ball of your foot for hard objects sticking slightly above the sand. If you step on something smooth, you reach into the water, and find out whether you have a clam, a shell, a rock, or possibly a crab. Do this enough times, and you may come home with enough for dinner.

Despite the dramatic decrease in clamming on Long Island, there are still enough clams left to provide a the intrepid clam digger with a few dozen for dinner—if you can find them! If you manage to dig up a few dozen littlenecks (or, failing that, can get to the local fish market), my wife Jennifer’s linguine recipe is a great way to use them.
More Info

New York Seafood Council, nyseafood.org
Information on our State’s fisheries, hard clam and lobster industries, and where to find great seafood.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, dec.ny.gov
Recreational clam harvesters should check this site for local area closures, to make sure harvesting is safe.

Jennifer’s Linguine with White Clam Sauce

Serves  4

2 dozen fresh littleneck clams in the shell
½ cup white wine
¼ cup olive oil
6 tablespoons butter
½ small onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chopped basil
½ cup chopped parsley
1 pound linguine, cooked al dente
White wine or chicken broth as needed

Soak the fresh clams in a brine solution (1/3 cup salt to 1 gallon of water) for 15 minutes. Using a stiff brush, scrub the clams thoroughly. Put 1 inch of water and the wine into a kettle or pot, place the clams on a rack above the water, and bring to a boil. Steam the clams for approximately 5 to 10 minutes, until they open. Using cheesecloth, strain about a cup of the clam broth into a bowl and set aside. Cover clams and set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter. When hot, sauté the onion and garlic until softened. Add the reserved clam broth and clams (you can add them whole, with the shell, or remove them from the shell and chop them). Simmer for about 1 minute, and then add the basil, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. If more broth is required, a small amount of white wine and/or chicken broth may be added. Serve over linguine.

Chris O’Hara is a Huntington resident and the author of six popular cookbooks. His wife, Jennifer, is rumored to make Long Island’s best white clam sauce.

This headline…

“Uprising Against the Ethanol Mandate”

…in today’s New York Times grabbed my attention while I waited at Faz’s Tex Mex here in Huntington to pick up my lunch. It said rising food prices due to crops grown going toward the production of Ethanol prompted the Gov. of Texas asking that Federal Ethanol Mandates be changed to ease this problem.

Of course there are arguments being made pro and con. I don’t know his true motivation since accusations have already been made about his reasons for wanting this. I must say after reading a few articles in the past I’m on the pro change side.

I also can’t figure out how we continually get to this point.

Let’s see, in Algebra I learned X + Y = Z.

So follow my simple corn math equation

If we have X (Land in Acres) + Y (Crop Yield per Acre) = Z (Total Crops Yielded) then what is so hard to figure out?

If Z (Total Crops Yielded) was going to market as a food source and now some of it is going to Ethanol Production there has to be an increase in either X (Land In Acres) or Y (Crop Yield per Acre) to keep food prices constant.

Isn’t that what I learned in Economics – Supply & Demand?

That said, supply to the food market is now down, food market demand is constant or up – so guess what, that usually equals higher prices.

Since I’m new to Ethanol Production and Farming game, maybe I’m missing something. Or maybe those who fought for the mandates, while I’m sure well intentioned, forgot to do this math equation before fighting for it.

As a society it might be helpful to go back to basics; using simple Math, Language and Reasoning skills as a way to develop our strategies.

Here are a few easy ones for us to try out…
Treat people fairly – good reasoning
Tell the truth – good reasoning
Total dependence on one finite energy source – bad reasoning
Taking food from someone’s mouth to fill a gas tank – bad reasoning

I think our Politicos can use our help, so feel free to send you elected officials some reasoning exercises you thing would be helpful for them work on.

Tom Pellicane – Publisher, canvas Magazine

Last Night I got to watch a few minutes of the News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS. They had a segment with “Informal” Advisors to Presidential candidates McCain and Obama talking about each candidate’s position on Iraq. Right before the segment had aired, they had done a segment on the NY Time’s rejection of Senator McCain’s Op Ed piece and the Bru Ha Ha this rejection has created.

As I watched these “Informal” Advisors play chess, it sadden me. All I saw was each candidates stump speech come out of someone else’s mouth. I will say that McCain’s “Informal” Advisor was better at stumping then Obama’s. He talked over the others and kept hitting the same point over and over.

My sadness comes from seeing the media once again becoming a wasteland of sound bites, as I saw on PBS, and side issues, like the Op Ed piece Bru Ha Ha.

We deserve better, we deserve to hear real positions and dialogue about the issues we face.

During the ping pong match on Iraq I kept thinking…
”What the hell is an Informal Advisor anyway?”
“Does this mean they only advisor in shorts and a t-shirt or maybe Khakis and a button down?”
“Or does it mean they advise, but really aren’t listened too?”

I also kept wondering “If you’re an advisor why are you telling me the candidate’s positions vs. what you’ve advised them on?”

Lastly I thought… “Didn’t Obama’s people learn anything from the Movie Recount on HBO?”

At the end of the segment I had to give the win to McCain’s man on “over talking alone.” He shut down the Newscaster and the Obama mouthpiece and allowed no substance to be discussed.

I didn’t learn much more about which candidate would be better for the country at all, but I did learn it sometimes might be better to have a loud mouth, than a more reserved person as your “Informal Advisor.”

Tom Pellicane – Publisher, canvas Magazine

While editing the August issue of canvas, a very interesting moment occurred while conversing with our copy chief, Lucy Saunders. I asked her to write about it for canvas’s blog, and here’s what she had to say:

Celebrity sightings are no big deal to us New Yorkers, and believe me, I’m not that easily impressed. But I had the best encounter ever the other day—and it was all because of canvas.

I copy edit the magazine, and have numerous conversations with editor Diana Murphy while it’s being put together. We had a talk scheduled recently while I had to be out and about, so I found a quiet corner right next to a side exit in the lobby of the Hyatt on 42nd Street. As we were chatting about one of the articles, a hotel employee approached me and said they were “moving a dignitary” and would I mind staying where I was for the next few minutes? Sure, no problem, I told him.

Well, the next thing I knew, I was five feet away from the Dalai Lama! And still on the phone with Diana, but not talking about work at that moment! I’ve heard him describe himself as “a simple monk,” but he has some kind of “energy field” around him that’s so strong I almost felt as though I could see it! Hard to describe, but he seems like the calm at the center of a storm. I literally got chills when he passed by me.

So, thanks Diana, because I never would have been there for that incredible experience if I hadn’t been working with you.

—Lucy Saunders, canvas Copy Chief

Lucy mentions she got chills when the Dalai Lama walked by, and I can tell you that I did, too, the moment she mentioned who the passing dignitary was. It seemed so fitting that while we were discussing copy edits on the upcoming article we’re running on taking “inner vacations”—meditative relaxation techniques to promote inner peace and well being—that the world’s most famous living embodiment of peace and well being should cross our path (well, hers, literally and mine via our cell phone connection).

To Lucy’s dismay, she didn’t get a photo of the Dalai Lama as he walked by (my fault as she had her hands full of layouts with copy fixes and couldn’t reach into her purse for her ever-handy digital camera quickly enough); but at least she had me as a witness to share that special moment—one we’ll both surely remember for the rest of our lives.

And it’s me who should be thanking you, Lucy, for sharing this brief encounter and helping canvas mind our Ps and Qs, no matter where you are or what celebs you may be brushing shoulders with. We appreciate your continual hard work and dedication, and are so lucky to have you as part of the canvas team.

—Diana Murphy, canvas Editor in Chief

As a few friends and I shared a 40-something birthday, we thought it would be perfectly apropos to go see Sex And The City—the movie, that is. Skipping the trailers and dashing for seats during the first five minutes, we might have missed Carrie Bradshaw in her signature shoe store, Manolo Blahnik, but we didn’t miss the signature cocktails. We came prepared with Cosmopolitans in a beach bag, veggies and dip. It got a bit loud pouring the cocktails into paper cups, and when the spinach dip fell on the floor I was wondering how marinated my sandals would be by the end of the flick…a very memorable night that ended with more drinks and appetizers—four friends in their own Sex And The City drama.

I didn’t always have the patience for the TV show, but the movie was surprisingly okay. Besides the usual Carrie costumes that only Sarah Jessica call pull off (and sometimes not) the four friends displayed some quality acting. If you haven’t seen the movie and plan on it—stop reading right here. I’m about to give it away…

When Big leaves her at the altar (or nearby) in the movie, I wasn’t expecting to see a bed-ridden, circles-under-the-eyes Bradshaw, but this side of Carrie is one I can believe in. The designer “bag” dresses, the poodle skirts, the crazy hats, the vintage gloves, the Blah-Blah Blahniks are all great, but Bradshaw’s serious side is more flattering than the outfits.

I won’t go into more details … go see it and judge for yourself. The best part is they’ve all aged gracefully without appearing to have dived too deep into Botox or Restalyne (and whatever else is plumping out there.) So, when people say I resemble Sarah Jessica Parker, I smile and thank them. And like Carrie, I, too, get by with a little help from my friends…

—Joanne Schenker, canvas Arts & Letters columnist