OCEAN TOWNSHIP — When Gef Flimlin set up his raw bar, the clams looked a little unusual. For starters, their shells were bound with rubber bands, like lobsters' claws at the seafood counter.
A wise guy inquired: That's to keep those ferocious clams from eating each other, right?
"Those are actually lobster bands, cut in half," explained Flimlin, a marine agent with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Service who works to promote locally sourced New Jersey seafood.
Processing the shellfish in a machine that applied an artificial 45,000 pounds per square inch of water pressure killed bacteria and literally popped the clams off their shells. Those tight rubber bands were keeping all the clammy goodness inside until you flipped the lid with fingertips instead of a shucking knife.
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