Clam Babies

When my IBV started talking to me about baby clams this is the image that immediately came to my mind.  I guess technically they are oysters, but whatever.

So, at my house when the temperature cools down I make soup.  I had a hankering for some clam chowder the other day so I made it a point to buy some clams.  Not that I love clams or anything--they are a little scary and chewy, but I really like clam chowder.  At the store I am faced with an important choice:  "chopped clams" or "baby clams".  So I am thinking to myself: "Well, baby clams are probably more tender than chopped (adult) clams so I'll go with the clam babies".   I bought 2 cans. One for now, one for later, you know how it goes.

When I was making my soup I opened that can of clam babies.    Instead of getting this:

chopped clams, picture from the www

I got this:

my own clam babies

Isn't that just the grossest thing you ever saw? I don't know why people are killing these tiny clam babies to sell because they are NASTY.  I couldn't use them. I couldn't, with the knowledge I had of clam babies, use them in a dish with good conscience.  They had veins and tubes and wrinkly parts. They had some green stuff inside a pouchy part and I could only imagine what that green stuff could be. It looked more plantish than poopish but really who knows. They call the poop tube in a shrimp the "vein" so I just wasn't willing to take that risk.   So here's my initial gut-mapping photo.

Then I found a real picture clam anatomy on the www (of wonders). Clam anatomy is very important as you can see.

  Who knew that clams had pericardial cavities and a stomach?  I am preeeety sure that "pouchy thing" was a stomach.  I will never look at a clam the same way again.  This is a TMI of the mollusca phylum and the bivalvia class.

Sooo, after looking at all those clam guts would YOU want clam baby ganglions floating in your chowder? I didn't think so.  From here on out it is chopped clams all the way.  And even then I just can't look too closely.