The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1912-03-21
SEA FOOD FAKES.
Popular FaIIacies About Shell and
Other Fish.
NO GENUINE LITTLE NEcKs.

These Luscious CLANS are ming OF |
. tho Past, and Blue Point Oysters Are
Mighty Scarce, Yet You May Buy
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 its 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 nor'westers blow till they virtu
ally empty the bay. any oysters on the
beds freeze To forestall the loss the
wise oyster longer 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 sized
oyster in that latitude requires two
or three years to mature. Neverthe-
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. Philade!
phia it's Cape May Salts. Baltimore,
Washington and Norfolk their Lynn
| Ravens Each place is willing to
wager that It's particular bivaive is thu
most luscious in the world Not being
| particularly ayerse 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 moluSks harvested along
| every coast of the United States, he
would lay a wager on the Rayon 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 will
agree with me in this oyster rating. -
AS summer approaches persons who
have enjoyed their Blue Points until
the advent of the r-less month CT May
will, with the same sang froid. order s
half dozen Little Neck CLAIMS as IL pre-
iude to a repast. They get them-not,
The Little Neck clam is Il 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
clans anatomy. "a most people believe
CLAIMS. unlike oysters. cannot be cult
waited OF beds prepared for the pur-
pose, but are found in what are termed
natural BEDS A 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. and
the reputation Of the Little Neck was
made. Although it took only few
years to exhaust the supply. nearly
every clam from every bed in the coun
try has since basked in the reflected
glory of that Little Neck harvest, ans
!, 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 cral
: flor which you pay about three times
as much as for the hard shell variety
is simply the crab caught Immediately
after he has backed out Of his old shell
, and within two or three days Of the
| time when the skin that covers bis
body has had a chance to harden into
the new shell. Soft shell crabs. like
! certain Irish products. can be ''eateI
, skin and ALL" They can be fried anf
t made very palatable. whereas the oral
with his regular shell in place has t.
be dug out Of his armor and eaten il
fragments Or served under the meni
titles "deviled crab" "crah fakes O
t crab salad"
{ The popular food finny members o
t the fish family have as many inter
: esting characteristics as their shell
? clad brethren For instance. all TIL
: hotels and restaurants that serve 'sen
f uine" Blue Points and Little Neck
? heretofore referred to also set fortl
with the same degree Of equanimit.
e tillet of sole IA la anything that sound
Y palatable). The proportion Of the gen
! uine to the real article in the case 0
v this commodity = even less than Wit
: the Blue Points.
t The truth is that about ninety-ni1l
;. times out Of hundred the chefs tas
: our old friend the plebeian flonEdel
t or fiatfish. and dress him up rs
!. Frenchman, for real sole in this ceur
. try must be imported from Frenr
: waters. Founders are caught in gre;
= quantities all along the Atlantic coas
. from New Jersey to Maine. Whereye
\ no other fish will bite you can AWAY
f depend on hooking number of til
1 old reliable founders
. The fact that Maine herring whe
. quite young are canned and markete
q for sardinee done up in olive oil
) fairly well known. As the home pre-
/ uct is about as tasty and wholesome a
fho ~. porfod orf4nlo t1,orr, 10 MT mn.