Friday, February 18, 2011

Quahaug


The Quahaug (Mercenaria mercenaria) has been the official state shell of Rhode Island since 1987. Native to the eastern shores of North America, quahaugs (or hard clams) are one of many unrelated bivalves people refer to simply as clams.

The word quahaug (or quahog) comes from the Narragansett word "poquauhock". 


So now you now.

Anyone for chowdah?

Update Friday 18 Feb 9:18 AM

But those clams in the picture are really too small to be true Rhode Island Quahaugs.

This is a quahaug!





12 comments:

George A said...

I'd love some. That and a plate of steamers. Finally Tillerman-something we agree upon! Classic Moth Boat Mid-Winters take place at Gulfport, FL the weekend of the 26/27 Feb. Maybe you can get old Earwigoagin to loan you a "Maser".

Litoralis said...

Wouldn't the M. mercenaria clams in that photo be referred to as littlenecks or cherrystones? They don't look big enough to be called quahogs yet.

Tillerman said...

Well spotted Litoralis.

Funny thing is I wrote this post yesterday evening and scheduled it to be published at 7am today Friday, and then I woke up in the middle of the night, thinking, "That picture's not right." Even though it is on the Wikipedia entry for quahogs and is also on a site about state symbols where it is titled "Quahug (hard clams)" I think you are right. (By the way I don't think quahug is a commonly accepted spelling either.)

Shock horror, the Interwebs are wrong. And I have perpetuated the error. So shoot me.

Tillerman said...

I have updated the post with a picture of a big quahaug to keep Litoralis happy. I've no idea where he gets his nitpicking argumentative trait from.

Baydog said...

The cherry doesn't fall far from the tree.

B.J. Porter said...

It's a Venn thing...a Little Neck (which has no visible neck, unlike a steamer) and a Cherrystone are all Quahogs. But not all quahogs are little necks or cherrystones. Steamers (Mya arenaria) are a completely different species...but what we natives mean when we use the term "Clam" generically.

You make chowda from the big ones - you grind them up (nothing to do with a "grinder" which is a sandwich), using little necks for that is criminal. For those you either eat them raw, make clams casino (which uses quahogs, not clams), or do some sort of recipe that leaves them intact for eating.

Clear?

Tillerman said...

Absolutely. Rhode Island chowder is clear. I do know that.

Anonymous said...

http://beeradvocate.com/news/2922356
"Beer of the Clam"

George A said...

As a kid growing up on the south Jersey shore we took it to mean that little necks and cherrystones were just young, little quahogs that had some growing to do. Then there were big, tough old "surf clams"--a different varmit altogether; they have a much more symmetrical shell than a quahog and no purple for wampum on the inside edges. Don't know the latin taxa for surf clams but we just used them for bait.

George

Anonymous said...

I thought the defining characteristic of a quahaug was having a shell big enough for a pair of ashtrays. Back when we lived in RI, that's what we kept in our apt for smoking visitors.

Steve in Baltimore

kiwiyates said...

They look like 'cockles" to me.....

Baydog said...

Surf clam shells for ashtrays on the wooden electrical cable spool/coffee table in our trailer during college. When the ashtrays got full, you just dump them down the hole in the middle of the spool.

Post a Comment