May 14, 2008: Polite ways to describe a geoduck:

Appearance:

1. "Like the leathery snout of an aardvark"

2. an "eye-catching," "monster . . . thing, of incredible longevity, with a certain . . . charisma."

3. a "homely" "behemoth of the beach"

Texture of neck when live:

4. "much like the skin of your elbow when your arm is straightened"

Taste:

5. Like the lobster of the clam family.

6. Rich without being at all fishy. Fresh, crisp. Surprisingly delicious.

There's a lot of geoduck information out on the triple-W. Some of our favorites, which we quoted above (#1 and 2): this Seattle Times story, and a CDNN story, also via the Seattle Times, titled "Clam Scam II: The Great Geoduck Caper." It's as fun as it sounds. Also check out Wikipedia for the picture of the geoduck with the stupendously long neck.