BajaNomad - Gooey (sp?) ducks???

Gooey (sp?) ducks???

capt. mike - 7-25-2007 at 01:14 PM

on Bourdain's show last night - Seattle was the feature - they were at the muddy areas by the sea and digging up these strange looking giant clam like creatures that had bodies bigger than, no actually hanging out of the shells.
he called them gooey ducks?
i thought Bob F posted a pic of one from baja once too.

supposed to be pretty good to eat after cleaning, i'd like to find some to try.
anyone?

DENNIS - 7-25-2007 at 01:23 PM

Geoduck.........

Pronounced just like Mike said it. I thought these guys were native of a more northern area like Oregon and Washington. Not sure you'll find them in Baja.

Diver has to be familiar with them.

tripledigitken - 7-25-2007 at 01:34 PM

Mike,

Not sure you'll find them south of Oregon. Sharks could verify that. We ate them when living in Washington State. I belive them to only be in Pac NW extending into south eastern Alaska.

Of all the things to highlight on his show trust Bourdain to pick Geoducks. They are supposed to get as large as 6' and 12#'s.................

By the way Mike, his book Kitchen Confidential is a hoot. A great read for those interested in fine dining and or the restaurant business.

Saludos,

Ken

Russ - 7-25-2007 at 01:55 PM

Use to eat them a lot too when I lived on the Hood Canal.

geoduck.jpg - 49kB

Debra - 7-25-2007 at 02:00 PM

Dennis...........Seattle IS in Washington.

bajajudy - 7-25-2007 at 02:09 PM

Yes but would Shari eat one raw? :barf:

tripledigitken - 7-25-2007 at 02:17 PM

The question is will Capt'n Mike eat one raw?

:lol:

ken

bajaday - 7-25-2007 at 02:34 PM

Found on another Blog---

"For the last five years this diving operation has harvested giant clams in the sand one to two miles off shore. The clams are harvested using compressed air driving water to expose the "queen of the clams". Each diver usually works a 4-hour shift under water dredging and harvesting. The visibility is "0" so all is accomplished by knowledge passed on from years of experience (braile method). Divers or "buzos usually descend down 60 feet to the sand clam beds. Each buzo/diver harvest 100 to 200 per each shift. The clams are only exposed 1-inch above the sand bed. As they move the reverse dredge over the sand bank they feel with their spare hand to grab the clam, then place it in an elongated net/sack to be hauled to the surface. The net/sack usually contains one hundred "queen clams", usually they work two weeks at a time.

They require low currents and that is when the tides are "dead", so full moon and new moon cycle are time off. Most of the gentlemen are from Santo Tomas just south of Ensenada. The divers/buzos are very professional and adhere to the safety standards for buzos/divers around the world. Their breathing equipment is via a normal scuba mouth regulator and a long hose connected to a compressor inside the panga. Special oil and air filter safe for buzos/divers. All communication between boat tenders and the diver/buzo is via rope pull signals. The operation consist of three pangas, six tenders and three buzos/divers. The operate two shifts a day.

The "queen clams" are kept alive in the pangs storage hole with fresh salt water and compressed air. Every evening they are transported to Ensenada. In Ensenada they are repackaged in aerated shipping containers and shipped to San Diego, California. From San Diego the containers are then loaded into airline cargo holes for the 8-10 hrs flight to Japan, Hong Kong and china alive!

Only the outer area of the "queen clams" is eaten. it is sliced very thin strips and the preferred way of consumption is raw. Only a very small percentage of the clam is consumed.

We wish to thank Almena Reyna and their crew for taking the time explain
to us in their endeavors. All the gentlemen we shared time with were extremely professional and articulate -mochas gracias"

Have a couple of pics....I can't get them loaded, Sorry! They are UGLY looking things!

Slowmad - 7-25-2007 at 02:52 PM

Three Septembers ago I met a diver in Bahia de Los Angeles.
He told us to meet him at the dock after dinner.
There he had a container the size of a Mini Cooper.
It was stuffed with live geoducks.
He said he was trying to start an aquaculture program, though we didn't overlook the possibility that they were native to the bay.
Evidently they grow them at Bahia Magdalena as well.

Bob and Susan - 7-25-2007 at 02:57 PM

you NEED to get OUT of that arizona heat mike... :lol:

cause you KNOW what this thing looks like to me :lol:

...and...
you want to EAT ONE!!! :lol:

DENNIS - 7-25-2007 at 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Debra
Dennis...........Seattle IS in Washington.

Yeah.... I know. I'm tired.

Gooey-yucks?

Sharksbaja - 7-25-2007 at 03:13 PM

I believe they are only found N Ca. coast to BC. There are cousins found in warmer waters but nothing compares to the size and er, girth of these thangs. No thanks not interested unless YOU prepare it. :lol:

Frank - 7-25-2007 at 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob and Susan
you NEED to get OUT of that arizona heat mike... :lol:

cause you KNOW what this thing looks like to me :lol:

...and...
you want to EAT ONE!!! :lol:

Must be a male clam :lol:

Ken Bondy - 7-25-2007 at 03:36 PM

mike here's a geoduck intake siphon. The clam is about 18" below. There are thousands of them in Morro Bay.

++Ken++

bajajudy - 7-25-2007 at 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob and Susan
you NEED to get OUT of that arizona heat mike... :lol:

cause you KNOW what this thing looks like to me :lol:

...and...
you want to EAT ONE!!! :lol:

An elephant? What are you guys laughing about?

capt. mike - 7-25-2007 at 03:42 PM

wow, yep that's them all right.
so Anthony says...and yes Ken i read parts of his book, its a scream! - that he wanted to put one inside his speedo and strut around, man he's funny.

but they ate some raw and cooked right on the beach there. he said they were yummy.

tripledigitken - 7-25-2007 at 03:58 PM

OK, if you have to look for "mirugai" next time you visit your favorite Sushi restaurant.

Ken

toneart - 7-25-2007 at 04:14 PM

Mike, You are a bad speller.
First, we find out that gooey is spelled geo, and now, after seeing the picture, we learn that you have also misspelled duck. :lol:

Baja&Back - 7-25-2007 at 04:36 PM

2 years ago, there was an operation running from Villa Vitta's pier in BOLA, shipping Goeducks out by helicopter for Japan. The foreman said each 4x4x10 box was worth $100K in Tokyo.

We used to be able to collect Goeducks from waist deep water in BC 30 years ago, but the vietnamese and commercial harvesters destroyed that. Now, you need to go 100 miles from Vancouver & 75 feet down to get them. Went from being almost giveaways to nearly the price of lobster!

The way we cook them in BC is to take the "foot", smash it with a big hammer for ages, bread it & panfry. It's called a clam steak. Mmmmm, yummy. :bounce:

marv sherrill - 7-25-2007 at 09:20 PM

Peel the skin off of the long siphon - put them in a meat grinder - add milk and a few vegetables and you have a wonderful clam chowder - used to do this for 50 students in morro bay before it was too polluted to eat them - there is also a great song about the geoduck - "dig a duck, dig a duck, dig a geoduck, dig a duck, dig a duck, dig a geoduck a day." - band from San Diego... words on request - singing it will cost a few bucks....

marv sherrill - 7-25-2007 at 09:49 PM

additional info - Orignial lyrics by Ron Konzak of Evergreen (Washington) State University, where the geoduck is the mascot - look up the fighting song for your self.... TMI I guess...

jerry - 7-25-2007 at 10:02 PM

thers a small gut sack you can easly remove after slipping a sharp knife along the shell to unshell it
then soak the neck in warm water for 20 minuites while your getting out the egges and cracker crums
peal the necks out and cut off the nasty end slip a knife down the 2 tubes and lay them open dredge in egg and a very little milk then in cracker crumbs drop into real butter be carefull not to burn it in and out quick for the necks you can go longer on the body their really meaty it like a whole lot of heaven
little limon salt and perhaps tarter

jerry - 7-25-2007 at 10:04 PM

the first was a 5 pounder thought we could make a few meals no luck gone in one night------------- not good if you have gout this was from hoods canel
sweetest calm i ever ate

shari - 7-26-2007 at 11:42 AM

Oh YEAHHHH baby! Geoducks are my specialty, I actually worked as a tender on a geoduck boat in Tofino, B.C. for a summer and OMG they are deeeelicious. OK, now I know some of you may not believe this but this lovely creature has the MOST delicious gonads...really seriously, they are sweet like raw oysters, ya just bite into those buggers and roll; your eyes back into your head. NOw for the less adventurous the clam chowder is lovely but the syphen sliced thin is yummy raw with salt and lime or in sushi...as well as the "belly" meat. Great burgers too like ground meat. There are a second grade geoduck here in our area they are testing to see the viability right now to be exported to China as B grade when the A grade off Tofino is out of season....just a note....geoducking screws up the gray whales feeding bays big time...they grow in the same place whale food grows and harvesting them destroys the bottom and covers up all the little critters gray whales feed on. I experienced gray whale feeding area shifts in the bays we worked in...no more grays feeding there....

baja829 - 7-26-2007 at 07:06 PM

There are 3 divers in 3 boats off our beach every morning, bringing up this "delicacy". We're about 25 miles south of San Felipe half way to Puertecitos. People who have talked to them have said they're being exported to Japan on a regular basis. There out there at daylight and up to late afternoon or rough seas or outgoing tides. Haven't seen them locally.

BAJABAILADOR - 7-26-2007 at 08:27 PM

Reguarding clam divers

Was at San Antonio Del MAR, Colonet last weekend . Saw a nice blue panga hanging right at the edge of the surf all day.
Hooka diver down claming .Was told by local that the owner is the game comish from colonet,there were two divers alternating and a tender. At one point watched two of them through binocs for maybe 10 minutes try to get large sack over the side into boat.All clams going to ensenada.Was also told the game comish is all over the other clamers, using clam forks, cheaking them for size and counts. My nieghbor told me this has been going on for two weeks- every day.
I'll be back on the 4th and ck on them. Hate to see it picked clean ,but I guess that's progress.