Connecticut is known for its abundance of fresh seafood. Seafood can be quite cheap, if you know where to look. You can visit lobster wholesalers and get fresh lobster “straight from the boat” at below market price.

One of my favorite places to visit is Ford’s Lobsters located in Noank. In fact, in the movie Mystic Pizza, starring Julia Roberts, there is a wonderful shot of Ford.

Mystic is just a few minutes away.

If you don’t want to cook the lobster yourself, you can visit Abbot’s, just a few blocks down the road. Abbot’s offers amazing seafood. Be sure to order a lobster roll, which is a hot dog bun filled with fresh hot lobster served with melted butter.

My love affair with clams began before I could speak. I love clams in every way: raw clams on the half shell, clam chowder, stuffed clams, clam fritters, but my favorite is fried clams. Now these aren’t clam strips, mind you, they are whole fried clams with the “bellies” on them.

Clams come in several different varieties. Hard-shell lager clams, or quahogs, are used for chowder. Some of these shells were made into beads by the local Indians. This was called wampum and was used as money. Generally, quahog is what is used as a topping for pizza.

The smallest hard shell clams are known as cherry stones or little necks. These clams can be eaten raw with a little lemon or cocktail sauce. My brothers and I have spent countless hours with clam rakes harvesting this tasty fruit of the sea. (We always got our clam permits first. We didn’t want to get in any trouble with the Clam Commissioner!)

However, fried clams are different than quahogs or cherrystones. Most people don’t even know what fried clams are. They are made from soft shell clams. Generally these clams are eaten steamed and are known as steamers. Steamers can be served with a bowl of clam broth and melted butter. You remove the shell from the leg of the clam, wash the clam in a little broth, and then dip it in melted butter.

Fried clams are made from fried soft shell clams, with the “bellies”. If you ever get a chance to go to the New England coast, go to a local clam shack and order a plate of fried clams. You will not be disappointed.

Here is a list of my favorite clam shacks in southeastern Connecticut. In Mystic, I like The Cove and the Sea Swirl. In Noank, I like Abbot’s sister store, called, (what else) Costello’s. In New London, I like Captain Scott’s, which is hard to find but located right on the water. In East Lyme, I enjoy dad. Down the coast to Saybrook, I really like Johnny Ad’s. We also spent quite a bit of time this summer at Lenny and Joe’s Fish Tale located in Madison.

Lenny and Joe’s fish tale deserves a special mention here. First, their seafood is fresh and top notch. Second, they have a “flying” carousel or merry-go-round. Every hundred raised from the carousel rides is donated to charity. Lenny and Joe’s Fish Tale really gives back to the local community. As you can imagine, Kamalei rode the carousel numerous times. You can watch a video of Lenny and Joes here:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/17024/lenny_and_joes_fish_tale_madison_connecticut.html?cat=22

So the next time you find yourself on the New England coast: you have to try the fried clams!