Hey Ripsaw...Almost all clams commercially harvested in New Jersey are reburied in bacteria free areas for 30 days and then re-harvested after "purging"...Unfortunately the best clam beds are near tributaries of rivers & streams (like the Raritan)that carry fertilizers, horse manure as well as the nutriments that the bivales need to grow & multiply...All clams bought wholesale would then have a lable stating where and when the clams were harvested, that could be checked thru the board of health...Most restaurants then repurge them in clean oxygenated water for a few hours, which only removes most of the sand....Now you know why these little critters have become so expensive.
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