Rhode Island Calamari

[elrap]

I live in the clam-obsessed North Shore area of Massachusetts, but breaded, deep-fried calamari has always been a popular restaurant item. When I first moved here you always got your calamari straight up with tartar sauce, but over the past few years, I've noticed more and more places serving (first as a special, then as a regular menu item) calamari with hot pickled peppers.

Mostly, they just toss your classic calamari fritti with what I guess is a mix of commercial pickled pepper slices (red, green and yellow) kind of like the generic sandwich topping 'hots' that are also popular around here. In most places this makes the calamari a little soggy, but I like the combination and often order it as an appetizer when I see it.

At any rate - I thought this was just a micro-regional affectation, but last night I had the dish at a pretty upscale place (Glenn's in Newburyport) and they called it Rhode Island Calamari. I took the trouble to ask one of the owners about the menu claim and she corroborated, claiming that it was really a Rhode Island dish that had made its way north.

Dear readers/eaters from that area - can this be true? Did Rhode Island really give birth to this new treat, along with coffee milk, Johnny Cakes, clear clam chowder and 'New York' system hot dogs?

Jealously yours in advance,

L. Rap

[sdelgato]

Point Judith Seafood Company in Narragansset (sp?) sells squid under their own label. They say it is Rhode Island squid and it's good stuff too...

[johnnyd]

FWIW, Saw fresh Rhode Island Squid for sale yesterday here in Portland for $3.99/lb and it looked pretty damned good.

[HungryChris]

My favorite squid preparation, though it's hard to find done well is this:

Squid rings and tentacles lightly dusted with seasoned flour and pan fried in hot oil so that it becomes light and crisp, accompanied by a sauce on the side that includes butter that hot pickled peppers have been sauteed in long enough for their flavor to get infused into it. This combination (including the peppers) is just super good!

I'm not sure if it's a Rhode Island thing, although the peppers do suggest the large Italian population there had a hand in it.

Several years ago I was buying bait for a day of fishing. I was told that there were live squid in several floating boxes at the end of a little dock across the street, handed a little net and a container to collect the 'bait'. Suffice it to say no hooks got wet that that day, my dinner consisted of fried calamari and I couldn't have been happier.

Cheers,

HC

[elrap]

HC, that just sounds excellent, and would probably dry out the peppers enough so they wouldn't make the crust on the calamari soggy.

It looks like I mislabeled this thread; I was just wondering if fried calamari with hot peppers really is an RI thing that has made its way north. It didn't even occur to me that the squid itself was from RI, though that wasn't what this particular menu entry meant.

This stuff interests the heck out of me for some reason. Fried calamari with a spicy mayonnaise-based dip (instead of tartar sauce) followed me from California to Massachusetts by a year or two. It was an appetizer staple in Italian-ish restaurants everywhere in the state. Now I see this more regional dish, which feels kind of Portuguese.

OK, you've got me going now - I'm thinking buffalo calamari, but with an orange mayonnaise dip on the side instead of blue cheese dressing. . .

[johnnyd]

The Portuguese Cataplana is a copper "clamshell" device that one steams clams, mussels or anything else that's fresh inside, in a tomato and wine sauce.

Lately, I've been using local Casco Bay mussels and that fresh squid from RI and it is unbelievably good.

Here is an acceptable recipe which looks easier than mine, just throw in some squid while the tomato sauce is simmering for 15min until it firms up, then apply clams or mussels.

[Fat Guy]

Squid landed at Point Judith, Rhode Island, is a widely distributed commodity. That particular dish, "Rhode Island calamari" (aka "Fried calamari, Rhode Island style"), shows up on menus all across the country, most notably at the Legal Seafoods and McCormick & Schmick's chains.

[Chris Amirault]

Sorry... off not sleeping with the new kiddo...

RI calimari is as you say, and it is ubiquitous here in the Biggest Little State in the Union. HungryChris has a good basic recipe, the likes of which can be seen all over the state:

Squid rings and tentacles lightly dusted with seasoned flour and pan fried in hot oil so that it becomes light and crisp, accompanied by a sauce on the side that includes butter that hot pickled peppers have been sauteed in long enough for their flavor to get infused into it. This combination (including the peppers) is just super good!

←

Like most things, the vast majority of these served in restaurants really suck. Specifically, the calimari is very much overcooked, in order, I think, to crisp up the breading sufficiently. But the combination of butter (mandatory), pickled peppers (ditto), and the squid is wonderful when it works.

I've never asked about the origins of the dish, but will try to snoop around and see if I can find anything out.

[slbunge]

Perhaps I haven't been paying attention to the menus but we had a guest in last night and went over to the Barking Crab in Boston and saw the version of calamari mentioned in the original post. Dusted and fried rings and tentacles served with pickled pepperoncini and a superfluous little cup of cocktail sauce. I believe they called it something like 'hot and spicy calamari' on the menu rather than Rhode Island. It was quite good. The peppers had a nice heat/sour combination and weren't enough to get the calamari all soggy.

Edited April 19, 2005 by slbunge (log)

[pam claughton]

Perhaps I haven't been paying attention to the menus but we had a guest in last night and went over to the Barking Crab in Boston and saw the version of calamari mentioned in the original post.  Dusted and fried rings and tentacles served with pickled pepperoncini and a superfluous little cup of cocktail sauce.  I believe they called it something like 'hot and spicy calamari' on the menu rather than Rhode Island.  It was quite good.  The peppers had a nice heat/sour combination and weren't enough to get the calamari all soggy.

←

This is my favorite way (so far) to have calamari, which lots of spicy peppers so that the oil has a nice kick to it, but the fried batter is still crispy.

:)

[Chantilly Bob]

I live in the clam-obsessed North Shore area of Massachusetts, but breaded, deep-fried calamari has always been a popular restaurant item.  When I first moved here you always got your calamari straight up with tartar sauce, but over the past few years, I've noticed more and more places serving (first as a special, then as a regular menu item) calamari with hot pickled peppers. 

Mostly, they just toss your classic calamari fritti with what I guess is a mix of commercial pickled pepper slices (red, green and yellow) kind of like the generic sandwich topping 'hots' that are also popular around here.  In most places this makes the calamari a little soggy, but I like the combination and often order it as an appetizer when I see it.   

At any rate - I thought this was just a micro-regional affectation, but last night I had the dish at a pretty upscale place (Glenn's in Newburyport) and they called it Rhode Island Calamari.  I took the trouble to ask one of the owners about the menu claim and she corroborated, claiming that it was really a Rhode Island dish that had made its way north.

Dear readers/eaters from that area - can this be true?  Did Rhode Island really give birth to this new treat, along with coffee milk, Johnny Cakes, clear clam chowder and 'New York' system hot dogs? 

Jealously yours in advance,

L. Rap

←

The first place I saw fried squid both prepared this way AND called Rhode Island Calamari was at the first outpost of the Capitol Grille, which just happened to be in Providence. This was back in the early 90s.

A couple months ago I had lunch at the Capital Grille in Tysons Corner VA -- payment for a Super Bowl bet; GO PATS! -- and there it was on the menu so of course I ordered it and it was delicious and pretty zesty but not quite as hot as I remembered from Providence. It was also a bit soggy, now that you mention it.

So, AFAIK, this preparation did indeed originate in RI. Sadly, other RI classics like snail salad, grapenut custard pudding, and pizza strips (RI natives will know what I'm talking about) don't seem to have gained footholds beyond the bounds of Little Rhody.