Rhode Island clam cakes, chowder, and coffee milk (and fried clams!)

I just got back from a trip to Connecticut to visit my family. It was a great visit - P and I got to see all of the regular cast of characters in the Nutmeg State. And in terms of culinary excitement? P got to experience classic Rhode Island dining for the very first time.

You see, my mom grew up in Pascoag, Rhode Island, and my 93-year-old grandmother still lives there. Every time I'm back in Connecticut, we go up there for a visit. P, however, hasn't had the opportunity to visit as often as I have in the last few years, and having grown up in Edmonton, hasn't had the chance to spend a whole lot of time in New England, period. On this visit, we ate lunch at Serio's, which is a gathering place for all of Pascoag every day for lunch. My mom ordered fried clams to share - and being Friday, we could order clam cakes and chowder. These are dishes I grew up eating in Rhode Island every so often, and every year at the Eastern States Exposition (or the Big E). To drink? Coffee milk.

For those unfamiliar with these foods, clam cakes are a deep fried ball of dough, studded with bits of clam. It's sort of like a savory clam donut - and it's debatable whether it's more authentic to have more/larger bits of clam in them or less/smaller. Clam chowder, for me, always has to be white - the traditional New England clam chowder, full of potatoes and clams, with a cream broth. And coffee milk? It's just like chocolate milk, but flavored with coffee syrup. This is hard, if not impossible, to find on a restaurant menu outside of Rhode Island.

The meal, pictured above, was delicious - and definitely something anyone visiting Rhode Island should seek out as an eating experience. And with our new deep fryer, the clam cakes and fried clams might be things I'll try to recreate - results will be posted here if I do!