Clams to Cash: How to Make and Sell Giant Clam Shell ... - eXtension

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Clams to Cash: How to Make and Sell Giant Clam Shell ProductsPage 21MMDC sold the standard T. derasa wasabi dishes for $5 each and the fancy H.hippopus dishes for $10 each, and the shop could never seem to keep enough of themstocked. This item was a real moneymaker when presented to appreciative consumers,especially elderly Japanese tourists. Local Japanese sushi chefs in Palau frequently came tothe MMDC Gift Shop specifically to buy wasabi dishes for use in their restaurants. Theywere used by literally thousands of customers.While on the subject of giant clam shells for holding wasabi and soy sauce, it is worthnoting that some authentic Okinawan sushi bars use small giant clam shells for holdinghashi, known as chop sticks in English. The hashi oki is simply a single small clam shell,about 5 centimeters long, inverted on the table top near the customer’s place setting. One endof the pair of hashi is laid over the shell, the other end rests on the table. Japanese cooking isfamous for its attention to detail and its subtle presentation touches, all of which enhance thedining experience. Using a giant clam shell for hashi oki is but one example of thisphilosophy.A dish toholdJapanesewasabi, ahot mustard,and soysauce canbe fashionedby gluingtogetherthree clamshells ofvarioussizes.Figure 21.The MMDC Gift Shop charged a higher pricefor wasabi dishes made from H. hippopusshells than for wasabi dishes made fro theshells of other species of giant clams.June 1996
Clams to Cash: How to Make and Sell Giant Clam Shell ProductsPage 22Ash TraysUsing a lovely giant clam shell to hold cigarette ashes seems a shameful desecration.For this reason, the MMDC gift shop never sold clam shells specifically for use as ashtrays.Even the idea of a restaurant having clam shells filled with mouth-watering sashimialongside similar shells filled with cigarette ashes is unappetizing. Yuck!Sadly, smokers are everywhere in the Asia-Pacific region. It is truly a region ofpuffers. And they are an inventive lot, capable of turning just about anything—coffee cups,beer cans, sinks, newly waxed floors, the palms of their own hands, and yes, even giant clamshells—into ashtrays.Smokers patronizing the MMDC gift shop frequently and quite shamelessly boughtgiant clam salad bowls, soap dishes, wasabi dishes, planters and even candlestick holderswith the specific objective of using them not for their intended purpose but for ashtrays! Thefollowing conversation, or some variation of it, took place many times in the MMDC giftshop.Customer: ”What’s this?”Salesclerk:”It’s a salad bowl made from a giant clam shell. Of course, youcould use it for serving sashimi, sauces, candy, or any other type offood.”Customer: “Hmmm, that would make a great ashtray. Ethel, let’s get a coupleof these ashtrays.”Because this manual gives instructions for crafting most of the shell products thatmight conceivably be used for ashtrays, the issue need not be belabored by repeating thetechniques. If you would like to be in the ash tray business, just use giant clam shells to makevirtually anything resembling a dish or bowl and label it “ashtray.” Trust us: someone willbuy it.June 1996
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Clams to Cash: How to Make and Sell Giant Clam Shell ... - eXtension

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