Shame on them both!
By Will Collette
As most readers know, I have been a big fan of state
Representatives Donna Walsh and Teresa Tanzi in the past. They, along
with state Rep. Larry Valencia, have
been my three favorite members of the RI House.
But I feel betrayed after learning the Donna and Teresa were
the lead co-sponsors of Rep. Joe McNamara’s bill, H-5654,
to make fried calamari with pickled yellow peppers the Official State
Appetizer. Larry, to his credit, was wise enough to stay out of it.
I like fried calamari a lot, but certainly not as the
state’s Official Appetizer. As my left-wing blogger colleague Bob Plain of Rhode Island’s Future
wrote, what about clam cakes?
And what about stuffies!!!
Clam cakes are one of the few things that will make me cheat
on my diabetes control diet. They’re worth risking my life for.
I study the various ways they’re made here in Rhode Island.
Some recipes call for a dense dough, often deep-fried to a crunchy, dark brown
finish. At the opposite extreme are the ones with light batters and a soft,
golden finish.
I prefer the later, and in my opinion, no one does that type of
clam cake better than Charlestown’s summertime destination, The
Hitching Post, on Route One.
The Hitching Post would get an A+ except they commit the
terrible heresy of calling them “clam fritters” as if this was some boondock
place in Connecticut. Indeed, I generally associate the term “fritters” with
some of the concoctions I’ve sampled in the South, although they are almost
invariably corn fritters.
Now, when I ran this article past
my Progressive Charlestown colleagues, they all copped to being clam cake
lovers – but not as appetizers. Combined with a good chowder (excuse me,
chowdah), they make a meal.
As Bob Yarnall put it, “I used to be able to woof down a plate of calamari and still
enjoy a chunk of lasagna. Couldn't have done the lasagna, or anything else for
that matter, after clam cakes, because you have to eat at least a half dozen to
get the full effect. By then, the appetite is diminished as opposed to
enhanced, no?”
Don’t get me started about stuffies. Talk about incredible
variations on the theme. Stuffies almost always work, provided they contain
enough clams (and linguiça)
and there’s enough hot sauce.
In my universe of Rhode Island appetizer specialties, clam
cakes are Number One, far and away, followed by stuffies and then, in third
place, fried calamari.
I could list various delectable oyster-related appetizers,
but too many of the best recipes originate outside of Rhode Island. It
must be because we haven’t had much of an oyster culture in Rhode Island until
recent efforts to bring them back, both through aquaculture – a
bad word in Charlestown for some stupid reason – and through pond clean-up.
But Donna and Teresa need to re-think their support for
McNamara’s calamari legislation. What the hell does a guy from Warwick know
about seafood anyway? He’s probably too young to remember the delights of
Warwick’s own Rocky Point clam cakes from the good old days. I’ll bet he’s
never been to Iggy’s.
Fried calamari, indeed.
When I told Donna Walsh I was writing this article, I gave
her a chance to defend her position. Always the diplomat, she attempted a compromise: “If you prefer stuffies or clam cakes, it is obvious that you have
not tried the calamari at the Charlestown Breachway Grill. It seems you prefer
members of the mollusk family so maybe we can mollify you by making RI style
chowder as our state chowder.”
 |
| Teresa and Donna - right on most things. Wrong on this. |
Nah-uh, Donna. I won’t be mollified!
Rep.
Tanzi, who represents the Port of Galilee had no sense of humor when contacted
for a comment on the story. She takes this issue very seriously she assured me.
"There is no competition
here. Point Judith Calamari is the only game in town. Much like the finest
parmigiano can only be called reggiano if it comes from Parma, the
best calamari comes from RI, right here in Galilee. This is serious business in
the squid capital."
After
a moment of silent reflection, she added, "Stuffies
and clamcakes are a joke, the ratio is all wrong on protein to starch. Any
serious foodie knows that."
These types of food fights aren’t just fun and
games, however. Rhode Island has been gaining a reputation as a “foodie” haven
and our own local specialties are part of the reason.
Plus, I can see Teresa’s point in the value of promoting
fried calamari to give a boost to our squid fisher folk. What with catch limits
on cod and other popular varieties of fish, the still bountiful squid will
become an increasingly important part of the market.
And, yes, even though they are not #1 on my list (actually
they’re #3), lots of Rhode Islanders love them. GoLocalProv.com just weighed in with its
own list of favorite
calamari establishments.
The bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. McNamara, noted that Rhode
Island has the nation’s
largest squid-fishing fleet. They work out of Galilee which is about to get
$3
million worth of infrastructure development.
Coffee cabinets. NY System wieners “all the way.”
Johnnycakes. There are a lot of tourism dollars – and jobs – on the line so we
have to make our choices for what we call our “official” food very carefully.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] My Progressive Charlestown colleague Linda Felaco, who was also exiled to Washington DC for a similar length of time, says she actually yearned more for snail salad. She also credits Vetrano’s in Westerly (one of my own favorite local Italian restaurants) for making outstanding fried calamari.
[1] My Progressive Charlestown colleague Linda Felaco, who was also exiled to Washington DC for a similar length of time, says she actually yearned more for snail salad. She also credits Vetrano’s in Westerly (one of my own favorite local Italian restaurants) for making outstanding fried calamari.