Dig A Duck

So - last time I posed this little teaser... What are these?

Well, some of the more well-travelled amongst you might have spotted this, and also if there are any of you that reside on the West Coast of the USA. These are GEODUCKS.

What is a geoduck?

Well you may ask. they look rather, um, unsavoury, don't they? They are in fact delicious, because they are CLAMS.

The geoduck (/ˈɡuːiːdʌk/ "gooey duck"), scientific name Panopea generosa, is a species of very large, edible, saltwater clam in the family Hiatellidae.The common name is derived from a Lushootseed (Nisqually) word gʷídəq, either a word composed of a first element of unknown meaning and əq meaning "genitals" (referring to the shape of the clam), or a phrase meaning "dig deep". Alternate spellings include gweduc, gweduck, goeduck, and goiduck. It is sometimes known as the mud duck, king clam, or when translated literally from Chinese, the elephant-trunk clam.


The geoduck is native to the west coast of North America. The shell of the clam ranges from 15 centimetres (5.9 in) to over 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length, but the extremely long siphons make the clam itself much longer than this: the "neck" or siphons alone can be 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length. The geoduck is both one of the largest clams in the world, and one of the longest-lived animals of any type.

Why's it look so weird? It's due to the way it grows.

"GooeyduckSeafood" by Bachcell at en.wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GooeyduckSeafood.jpg#mediaviewer/File:GooeyduckSeafood.jpg

Back when I lived in Washington State I worked in Early Childhood Education and became exposed to the work of local singer/poet/all around nice guy Tom Hunter, from Bellingham, WA. He had a song he would perform called the Geoduck Song, and he would ask the audience to raise their hands in the air every time they heard the word 'duck'. As the song got faster and faster it became progressively harder to do. 

Well you can hear the diggers say
As they're headed to the bay
I gotta dig a duck
Gotta dig a duck a day
Cause I get a buck a duck
If I dig a geoduck
So I gotta dig a duck, gotta dig a duck a day

CHORUS
Dig a duck, dig a duck, dig a geoduck
Dig a duck, dig a geoduck, dig a duck a day
Dig a duck, dig a duck, dig a geoduck
Dig a duck, dig a geoduck, dig a duck a day

Well it takes a lot of luck
And a certain kinda pluck
Just to dig around the muck
And to find a geoduck
Cause he hasn't got a front
And he hasn't got a back
And he doesn't know Donald
And he doesn't go quack!

Repeat Chorus

www.tomhunter.com

 So... what can one do with a geoduck?

I'm so glad you asked.

First, head on over to www.geoduckrecipes.com/ which should get you off to a good start. There's a lot of Japanese-inspired recipes (sashimi, stir-fry etc.) and even salads and ceviche.

Now, take a look at this...




Now - Name THIS Food!