Eater Boston did a Where to Eat Fried Clams article and a mouthful of memories came back....

When I was growing up going out to eat was an "event" for our small family. Eating at home was the norm with my Mom cooking every meal when I was young.

So going out to eat was a big deal!

One of my fondest memories involved going up route 2 and taking the cloverleaf towards Burlington, and just after the exit to Lexington and before the exit to Concord pulling into Howard Johnson's.

Howard Johnson's, in case you didn't know, had grown from a small drugstore in Quincy, Massachusetts established in 1925, with just 3 flavors of ice cream: vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Howard Johnson, who was a real person, unlike Betty Crocker, developed a double butterfat ice cream and flavored it to make 28 flavors!

Early on HoJo's had ice cream and dishes that incorporated ice cream at the top of the menu and with the fried clams at the very bottom, almost like an afterthought, for 50 cents!

I remember going in and sitting at the counter or in a booth, and getting the roll of Tendersweet fried clams with tartar sauce in a homemade New England-style bun (hot dog bun). It was glorious! I cannot remember a better fried clam in my life than those when I was at HoJo's.

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Will this make the memory I have? Probably not. Still, it is worth having in your memory banks. Realistically like so many dishes, it is just better tasting when someone else makes it!

See the Fried Clams from Howard Johnson's Recipe here!

This recipe is easy and simple. Using Malloreddus pasta which cooks up quickly and boasts a shape that holds onto the pesto perfectly. Tuna adds a nice flavor as it flakes over the dish.

See the Malloreddus Pasta with Pesto and Tuna Recipe here!

This pasta is sometimes referred to as "gnocchi" in Italian and "cigiones" in Sassari.

If you think about olive oil, bacon, peas, Parmigiano-Reggiano, fennel, sausage, tomatoes, garlic, basil, saffron, etc., all of these ingredients can make a wonderful dish with this traditional Malloreddus Pasta!

Malloreddus is a small pasta shape from Sardinia, made with water and semolina flour in plain or saffron dough. The name has Latin origins from "malleoulus", meaning small morsel.

It is also believed the origin of the name comes from the word malloru, meaning bull, and that malloreddus means calves, and the shape is like the calf of a leg.

With a little bounce in the bite, a space to hold flavor and an exterior that grabs the sauce, what more could you want in a pasta shape? This is the Malloreddus without the Saffron.

Shop now for Casa Del Grano Traditional Malloreddus Pasta!

As good as any tuna in a can I have ever had. It was surprising. We have had a lot of tuna over the years. Many cans have been recommended to us, and rarely if ever are they super special. This tuna is memorable!

This sashimi-grade young tuna is individually caught with single hook lines and is flash-frozen solid at sea right after it is caught, making it a sustainable canned tuna, as well as a tasty one! Averaging up to 50% less mercury than many common store brands, this tuna has more omega-3 fatty acids than most salmon!

All of Lummi Island's wild-caught canned tuna comes from one second-generation tuna fisherman, Paul Hill, and his crew, who care about the fish and making sustainable canned tuna. Because of the special gear they use, they get virtually no bycatch.

Shop now for Lummi Island Wild Albacore Canned Tuna!

OK...this little bottle of the amazing Kishibori Shoyu Soy Sauce is perfect! This is the perfect way to share the love of your favorite soy sauce of all time! Or, take it with you to your favorite sushi restaurant because, why not? Same beautiful, traditional wrapping in a miniature bottle. How can you resist!

See the Kishibori Shoyu - Soy Sauce - Mini Bottle!

This is the easy squeezy simple Clafoutis Recipe. You can't fail unless you forget to bake it!

Works with any fruit. You have enough fruit when the fruit pokes through the mix.

See the Easy Clafoutis Recipe!

Jaggery (which you may know as Guda or Indian Gur sugar) is a whole, unrefined sugar that is as pure as any sugar from sugar cane can be. Compared to most sugars, especially refined white sugar, Jaggery has great properties.

Jaggery is made by boiling down raw sugar cane juice until it solidifies and is formed into a block. From there it takes on different forms for consumption.

According to Ayurveda, pure Jaggery powder has Ushna (hot) properties and eating some daily after meals improves your digestion and can prevent constipation.

Though Jaggery does not meet your daily iron needs, it is an excellent source of plant-based iron and can be a good daily step to ward off anemia.

The Jaggery with its antioxidant and mineral properties can work to clear the mucus in lungs and help the digestive system to function better by giving cytoprotection to your cells.

All these properties help with your immune system, a good thing to have in the winter when you are out playing in the snow, or at the beach, warding off the flu or whatever might be out there.

And for some it might even curb your desire to eat more cookies.

Jaggery has a rich aroma of molasses and sugarcane. Jaggery powder is like a wonderful perfume of sweetness.

At ChefShop we have a crushed form, that has little round globe-like pieces as well as finer granules. Eat the little globes with your fingertips to get a shot of adrenaline and a hit of flavor, even regularity.

If you like sweet like I do, you should consider adding some Jaggery to your life! Use as you would white sugar and eat it with abandon, just like you would like life to be. All out!

Sweet and happy, this is a sugar I have to have in my personal essential pantry!

Shop now for Jaipur Avenue Unrefined Jaggery Powder!

Using jaggery in a brittle recipe is really fun. It is almost a health food!

See the Peanut Chikki Brittle Recipe here!

Lots of spices and flavors make this chicken delicious!

See the Butter Chicken Recipe Here!

Understanding Ghee, in my opinion, takes away the unknown; and having it by the stove at the ready makes a good amount of sense.

Ghee is butter which has been cooked over a low heat until the milk solids start to brown, giving it a little nutty caramelized flavor. The process is very similar to clarified butter in how it removes the water, but cooks the milk solids.

This removal of the water allows for a higher smoke point of over 460 degrees F. It is high in omega-3s and butyric acid, creating goodness for your gastrointestinal tract.

In Ayurveda medicine, Ghee is prized for it's digestive, anti-inflammatory properties and helps with one's memory. Ghee even has a mythic beginning from centuries ago where the deity Prajapati created Ghee from nothing.

We say use Ghee to fry in! Especially potatoes! Not only because of the high smoke point and its essence of butter flavor, but at the same time it is awesome for you. That is hard to beat!

Not all Ghee is created equal. It starts with the cows and what they eat. These grass fed cows live in the natural pastures of Northern California. These cows help create a European style cultured butter, which is then slow cooked to produce this Ghee.

It is all these elements together that matter, and all of them together is what creates this excellent Ghee from Hey Boo. Try some now and if you haven't tried Hey Boo, you should!

Shop now for Hey Boo Organic Grass-Fed Cultured Ghee!

A wonderful take on a classic recipe with lots of spices and flavors.

See the Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe!

Turmeric is one amazing aromatic perennial herb of the Zingiberaceae or ginger family. This tuberous rhizome (root) is a flowering plant that grows in tropical locales and is most often ground fresh like wasabi, or boiled, dried, and ground to make a powder.

Once upon a time it, was called Indian Saffron (it is still used to dye impostor saffron) for its deep orange color. It is also know for its powerful health benefits that Indian Ayurvedic medicine and Chinese medicine have been using for 4000 years to reduce inflammation, help with toothaches, and jaundice. Perhaps the true route to its success is how it helps with flatulence and digestive issues.

Like a high-quality fresh olive oil, turmeric is showing that it might also be a fighter of Alzheimers and diabetes. (Caution for diabetics as it can thin blood, always ask your doctor.)

Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric, and it is curcumin that is believed to destroy mutated cells associated with prostate, breast, and colon cancers.

But it's not just these reasons to have turmeric in your cupboard. It should be in your food for its palette enhancing pleasing bold color. And it's not just palette pleasing, it is also palate perfect for your lentils, sprinkling on veggies, or used to brighten your eggs up. Simply add it to your favorite dishes like Moroccan Fried Rice or Singapore noodles.

It seems that the turmeric is a good "preventive" food, enhancing dishes and in turn your body!

Turmeric is a member of the Ginger family. Though it is also used in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, it is cultivated and eaten most frequently in India. Turmeric is peppery, woody, warm and musky with a pleasantly bitter aftertaste. It is at once peppery and citrusy, with a hint of the gingerroot it resembles.

Curries, pickles, pilaus and spice mixtures would be absolutely bereft without the color and flavor of turmeric. Its very mild taste lends itself well to rice, vegetable and pulse dishes.

Shop now for ground Organic Turmeric!

Liquid shio koji is a traditional Japanese ingredient that has gained popularity in recent years for its unique flavor and culinary applications. It is made from a mixture of fermented rice koji, salt, and water.

Koji is a type of fungus (Aspergillus oryzae) that is used in many Japanese culinary preparations, including sake, soy sauce, and miso. In the case of shio koji, rice is inoculated with the koji fungus and allowed to ferment for a period of time. During fermentation, enzymes produced by the koji break down the rice starches into simple sugars and convert proteins into amino acids, resulting in a complex flavor profile.

Shio koji translates to "salt koji" in Japanese, indicating that salt is an essential component of the product. The salt not only enhances the flavor but also helps to preserve the liquid shio koji. The fermentation process can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the desired flavor and consistency.

Liquid shio koji has a salty and slightly sweet taste with savory undertones. It has been described as having a rich umami flavor that enhances the taste of various dishes. The enzymes in shio koji also have a tenderizing effect on proteins, making it a useful marinade or seasoning for meats and seafood.

One of the key benefits of liquid shio koji is its ability to enhance the flavor of ingredients through enzymatic reactions. It can be used as a marinade for meat, poultry, or fish, where it helps to tenderize the proteins and add depth of flavor. It can also be used as a seasoning or sauce in various recipes, including soups, stir-fries, dressings, and marinades.

The chefs love this stuff!!

Shop now for Hanamaruki Liquid Shio Koji!

Liquicroc Caramel Toffy is a sugar-coated chocolate candy (cool!) with a liquid toffee inside! And even though you know the center is "loose" when you bite in, the reward is better than you can possibly imagine!

There is lots of crunch, (sugar shell?) with the toffee center swirling in around the chocolate to make an entertaining bite that is, well, sophisticated! You will spend some time enjoying it all! One satisfies, two are better!

Each box has an assortment of colors and no box is the same.

Shop now for Pecou Liquicroc Caramel Arlequin Assorted Dragees here!