The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1911-12-15
Sea FOOD Fakes.
Popular FaIIacieS About Shell and
Other Fish.
NO GENUINE LITTLE NECKS.
These Luscious CLAIMS Are a Thing Of
the Past, and Blue Point Oysters Are
Mighty Scarce, Yet You May Buy
Them Almost Everywhere.

Them Almost Everywhere.
Only about one person in a thou
sand who orders the luscious bivalve
known as the Blue Point really gets
the genuine article. The reasons for
this are simply. first. because very
few Blue Points are raised and, sec
ondly, because the supply Is Usually
marketed in November and December.
This brand OF oyster takes It's name
from being grown on beds in the vi
cinity of Blue Point, in Great South
bay, Long Island. The water there is
very shoal.
In consequence, when the bowling
winter norwesters blow till they virtu
ally empty the bay, any oysters on the
beds freeze. To forestall the loss the
wise oyster tonger becomes active and
markets Blue Points In the fall. 1t is
! thus seen that the reason they are so
small is that they have had only one
summer IN which to grow. a full sizei
oyster I'm that latitude requires Two
or three years TO mature. Neycrthe-
! less you can find Blue Points on
| bills of fare In Kansas City at almost
any time Of year.
Every locality has its pet brand Of
oyster. Boston has Its Cape Gods.
New York its Saddle Rocks, Philadel-
phia its Cape May Salts, Baltimore,
Washington and Norfolk their Lynn
! havens. Each place Is willing to
| wager that its particular bivalye Is the
most luscious In the world Not being
particularly averse TO starting trouble
| the writer wishes to state that having
! been born In a New Jersey oyster rails
! ing community. reared near the most
famous oyster beds of New York and
having eaten mollusks harvested along
every coast Of the United States, he
would lay wager on the Bayou Cook
oyster, raised In the gulf of Mexico,
for first place in the great oyster
sweepstakes, and on the Maurice river
coves raised in Delaware bay for sec
ond place. There are many who VIII
agree with me in this oyster rating.
have enjoyed their Blue Points until
the advent of the r-less month of May
will, with the same sang froid, order
half dozen Little Neck clans as pre-
lude to a repast. They get them-not.
The Little Neck clam Is n thing of the
past. He, the genuine, takes his name
from Little Neck bay. which lies just
where the East river joins Long Island
sound.
The title. therefore, Is not derived
from any particular formation of the
CLAIMS anatomy, rs most people beheVe.
CLANS, unlike oysters, cannot be cult-
waited on beds prepared for the pur-
pose, but are found In what are termed
natural beds. 4 number OF years ago
one OF these great natural beds was
discovered in Little Neck bay, the
products OF which were Of the most
toothsome and tender variety. The
find was Immediately pounCed upon by
| clam rakers from far and near, ana
aSe reputation Of the Little Neck was
made. Although 1t took only few
years to exhaust the supply. nearly
every clam from every bed in the coun-
! trv has since basked I'm the reflected
glory OF that Little Neck harvest, and
you can still buy genuine Little
Necks" in any sea food emporium from
| Maine to California.
! There are many people who do not
know that hard shell crabs and soft
! shell crabs are identical. the only dis
tinction being that the soft shell crab
for which you pay about three times
as much as for the hard shell variety
| Is simply the crab caught Immediately
nfter he has backed out Of his old shell
and within two or three days Of the
! time when the skin that covers his
| body has had n chance to harden into
the new shell. Soft shell crabs. like
certain Irish products. can be eaten
skin and ALL" They can be fried and
made very palatable, whereas the crab
with his regular shell In place has to
be dug out of his armor and eaten In
! fragments or served under the menu
titles "dcviled crab" "crab flakes" or
! "crab salad
The popular food tnny members oi
the fish family have rs many inter.
esting characteristics as their shell
clad brethren. For instance. nll the
hotels and restaurants that serve gen
! ulne" Blue Points and Little Necks
heretofore referred TO also set forth
with the same degree OF equanimity
fllet of sole "a In anything that sounds
palatablc). The proportion Of the gen
uine TO the real article i'm the case OF
this commodity IS even less than with
! ihe Blue Points.
The truth is that about ninety-nine
times out of n hundred the chefs take
our old friend the plebeian founder,
or fatGsh. aud dress him up rs a
/ Frenchman. for real sole in this coun.
| try must be reported from French
waters. Founders are caught I'm great
quantities all along the Atlantic coast
from New Jersey to Maine. Wherever
20 other fish will bite you can always