Clams - Recipes and Cooking Information

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Clams

Part 1: What's the difference between a clam and a scallop?

More of this Feature

• Part 1: Clam history
• Part 2: Clam selection and storage
• Part 3: Clam preparation, usage and equivalents
• Part 4: Clam Recipes

Related Resources

• Clam Varieties
• Scallops
• More Seafood Articles
• A to Z Food Glossary
• Main Recipe Index

Recipes

• Marinated Clams
• San Francisco-Style Cioppino
• Clam and Beer Appetizers
• More Clam Recipes

Related Cookbooks

• The Compleat Clammer
• Fish & Shellfish
• Fish : The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking
• Stalking the Blue-Eyed Scallop
• More Cookbooks

Probably the first thing clams bring to mind is chowder. It's hard to beat a good bowl of clam chowder, whether you like it New England or Manhattan style. Maybe you prefer your clams au naturel, raw or steamed with little or no embellishment. Lucky you if you are in a location where you can dig your own, but clam-diggers need to familiarize themselves with the causes and consequences of paralytic shellfish poisoning before employing that clam rake. Clams can be as versatile as its brethren shellfish, if you dare to venture beyond the basics. Before we delve into the recipes, take a look at...

Clam history
The clam is a bi-valve mollusk of the Pelecypoda class that digs in the sand. Although native to both salt and fresh water, saltwater clams are considered far superior for eating purposes. Clam comes from the Old English clamm, meaning "bond" or "fetter" relating to its tightly clamped shell. Native Americans carved clam shells into beads and used them as currency or wampum (Algonquian meaning "white string of beads"), and introduced colonists to the concept of clambakes. The National Marine Fisheries located in Milford, Connecticut, pioneered clam farming circa 1930. Commercial hatcheries gained their foothold in the Northeast in the 1960s. Most commercially-available clams are nowadays raised on farms. Since the shells are built of calcium deposits, it's no wonder that clams are a good source of calcium and also high in protein.

Clam varieties
clam graphic Enjoyed as a food source since prehistoric times, there are over 2,000 varieties of clams. There are two main types of clam: hard-shell (Mercenaria mercenaria, from the Latin merces meaning "pay") and soft-shell (Mya arenaria). Hard-shell clams generally live in deeper waters, whereas the soft-shell resides in tide flats. Soft-shells are generally not eaten raw. The siphon neck protrudes from soft-shells, so they cannot completely close their shell. The King County, Washington, page has a nice small clam identification page for common Pacific varieties. Click here for more information on different clam varieties and general cooking procedures.

Scallop or clam? What's the difference?
Yes, they are both mollusks with edible interiors. The scallop propels itself through the water by snapping its shells together, thus building a strong muscle which attaches the halves of the shells together. The large muscle is the edible part, whereas the rest of the body is discarded. The clam, on the other hand, is fairly sedentary, remaining in one spot. It yields up its full body for consumption -- muscles, intestines and all are eaten.