chicken and clams

Wandering the back roads of coastal Massachusetts, I pulled into an unlikely looking food joint. Unlike the place pictured here (which we taste tested on another day), the Clam House of Ipswich looked as if it specialized in pizza and grinders. I asked the kid at the counter what was good and he, with an eastern European accent, recommended the baked haddock dinner. After I ordered it, I noticed it was not only the top of the four items on the specials board., it was also the most expensive.

It proved to be an amazingly good meal. And it prompted a conversation about our good fortune. We discussed the fact that seafood (esp. clam strips) is consistently good in this area in a fashion that parallels fried chicken quality in the Midwest and the South. One causative agent must be the locally fresh ingredients. But that does not seem sufficient. While fresh clams are regional, chickens are not. High quality beginnings are very important. And yet there is more involved. Otherwise, why aren’t chicken shacks legendary eateries in the northeast?

Currently we have two working hypotheses. The first is the consumer selection hypothesis. Basically, the reason area restaurants are the best among those that have been in existence. The relatively crummy restaurants have gone out of business. They have become extinct. This would apply to chicken, barbeque and sushi places. The reason why seafood places are so good in New England is because the competition is so strong. But do not look for good fried chicken: the competition is likely insufficient to make those restaurants a safe bet.

The other hypothesis is the local expertise explanation. Less contentious than the previous hypothesis, the reason particular restaurants are exceptional in certain regions is because there is shared wisdom within the community. This may not be an explicitly shared knowledge. But somehow the pieces and process leading to crisp chicken coating, buttery clam strips, and vibrant sushi flesh are dispersed among the food preparers. Bad clam strips in Missouri? Perhaps it’s because the wisdom does not reside there. Much like craft knowledge passed from person to person, this hypothesis explains regional expertise as a consequence of distributed smarts.

I vow to continue this investigation in whichever regions I find myself. I understand the fish tacos in San Diego are to die for. Anything good to eat in Anaheim?