Photo from BBC
Mother Nature never ceases to delight me. Look at these Geoduck clams, or ‘elephant trunk’ clams, as they’re called in China where they are currently all the rage and going for $150 per pound.
I’ve been recommending clams for years as an aphrodisiac because of their iron-rich meat, and more recently because of a study linking their amino acids (D-aspartic acid and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid) to a rise in sexual hormones (only in animals so far, but it’s a start). Now sophisticated Chinese palates are drawn to consume these creatures partly because of their erotic look and their aphrodisiac properties, but also for their slippery texture, something that is not as revered here in America where the Geoducks grow wild. That’s why exporting them has become big business.
Geoduck is pronounced “gooey-duck,” likely from the Nisqually tribe’s word for ‘dig deep’ which is ‘gweduck.’ You have to get quite far down to harvest these creatures, as you can see in this photo below. They grow on the pacific northwest coast, can live up to 160 years, and taste sweet and tender.
Photo from BBC.
The Geoduck’s long penis-shaped siphon stretches out under the sand and sucks in sea water, filtering out the nutrients, then spitting the rest out through its tip.
I’m headed to China this fall, so I’ll report back about how it’s served and enjoyed on the other side of the world.
