Clam is a common name for several species of Bivalvia Mollusca. The word is often applied only to those that are deemed edible and live as infauna, spending most of their Life halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams have two shells of equal size connected by two adductor muscles and have a powerful burrowing foot.
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Clams in the culinary sense do not live attached to a substrate (whereas and do) and do not live near the bottom (whereas do). In culinary usage, clams are commonly eaten marine bivalves, as in clam digging and the resulting soup, clam chowder. Many edible clams such as palourde clams are ovoid or triangular;
Some clams have life cycles of only one year, whilst at least one reached an age of more than 500 years.
Anatomy
A clam's shell consists of two (usually equal) valves, which are connected by a hinge joint and a ligament that can be internal or external.
The ligament provides tension to bring the valves apart, whilst one or two adductor muscles can contract to close the valves. Clams also have kidneys, a heart, a mouth, a stomach, and a nervous system. Many have a siphon.
Food source and ecology
Clams are shellfish that make up an important part of the web of life that keeps the seas functioning, both as filter feeders and as a food source for many different animals.
Extant mammals that eat clams include both the Pacific and Atlantic species of
walrus, all known subspecies of
Harbor seal in both the Atlantic and Pacific, most species of
, including the California sea lion,
and even species of river otters that will consume the freshwater species found in Asia and North America.
- Birds of all kinds will also eat clams if they can catch them in the
littoral zone: roseate spoonbills of North and South America,
the Eurasian oystercatcher,
whooping crane and
common crane, the American flamingo of Florida and the Caribbean Sea,
and the
common sandpiper are just a handful of the numerous birds that feast on clams all over the world. Most species of
octopus have clams as a staple of their diet, up to and including the giants like the Giant Pacific octopus.
Culinary
Cultures around the world eat clams along with many other types of shellfish.
North America
In culinary use, within the eastern coast of the United States and large swathes of
the Maritimes of Canada, the term "clam" most often refers to the
hard clam,
Mercenaria mercenaria. It may also refer to a few other common edible species, such as the
soft-shell clam,
Mya arenaria, and the ocean quahog,
Arctica islandica. Another species commercially exploited on the
Atlantic Coast of the United States is the surf clam,
Spisula solidissima.
are also used for food nationwide, but not cockles: they are more difficult to get than in Europe because of their habit of being further out in the tide than European species on the West Coast, and on the East Coast they are often found in salt marshes and mudflats where mosquitoes are abundant.
- There are several edible species in the Eastern United States:
Americardia media, also known as the strawberry cockle, is found from Cape Hatteras down into the Caribbean Sea and all of Florida;
Trachycardium muricatum has a similar range to the strawberry cockle; and
Dinocardium robustum, which grows to be many times the size of the European cockle.
Historically, they were caught on a small scale on the
Outer Banks, barrier islands off North Carolina, and put in soups, steamed or pickled.
Up and down the coast of the Eastern U.S., the bamboo clam, Ensis directus, is prized by Americans for making clam strips, although because of its nature of burrowing into the sand very close to the beach, it cannot be harvested by mechanical means without damaging the beaches.
On the U.S. West Coast, there are several species that have been consumed for thousands of years, evidenced by full of clamshells near the shore and their consumption by nations including the Chumash people of California, the Nisqually people of Washington state and the Tsawwassen of British Columbia.
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Clams can be eaten raw, steamed, boiled, baked or Fried clams. They can also be made into clam chowder, clams casino, clam cakes, or Stuffed clam, or they can be cooked using hot rocks and seaweed in a New England clam bake. On the West Coast, they are an ingredient in making cioppino and local variants of ceviche.
Asia
India
Clams are eaten more in the coastal regions of India, especially in the Konkan,
Kerala,
Bengal and coastal regions of
Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu regions.
In Kerala, clams are used to make curries and fried with coconut. In the Malabar region it is known as "elambakka" and in middle kerala it is known as "kakka". Clam curry made with coconut is a dish from Malabar especially in the Thalassery region. On the southwestern coast of India, also known as the Konkan region of Maharashtra, clams are used in curries and side dishes, like Tisaryachi Ekshipi, which is clams with one shell on. Beary Muslim households in the Mangalore region prepare a main dish with clams called Kowldo Pinde. In Udupi and Mangalore regions, it is called marvai in the local Tulu language. It is used to prepare many dishes like marvai sukka, marvai gassi, and marvai pundi.
Japan
In Japan, clams are often an ingredient of mixed seafood dishes. They can also be made into
hot pot,
miso soup or
tsukudani. The more commonly used varieties of clams in Japanese cooking are the
Shijimi (
Corbicula japonica), the
Asari (
Venerupis philippinarum) and the
Hamaguri (
Meretrix lusoria).
Europe
Great Britain
The rocky terrain and pebbly shores of the seacoast that surrounds
Great Britain provide ample habitat for shellfish including clams. Historically, British cuisine has been more heavily based on beef and dairy products than seafood, although there is evidence going back to before most recorded history of coastal shell middens near Weymouth and present day York.
70% of the seafood cultivated for aquaculture or commercial harvesting is exported to the continent,
though present-day younger populations are eating more of the catch than a generation ago.
Staple favourites of the British public and local scavengers include the razorfish, Ensis siliqua, a slightly smaller cousin of the bamboo clam of eastern North America.
Italy
In Italy, clams are often an ingredient of mixed seafood dishes or are eaten together with pasta. The more commonly used variety of clams in Italian cooking is the
Veneridae (Venerupis decussata), although regional cuisines include the
tellina or arsella
(Donax trunculus), the fasolaro o fasolara
(Callista chione), the cannolicchio (
Solen marginatus, a kind of
Razor clam), and the Tartufo di mare
(Venus verrucosa).
Religion
In Islam, clams are considered
halal in three Sunni
madhhab, but not in Hanafi, as only fish are considered halal in Hanafi jurisprudence, not other aquatic animals. In Judaism, clams are not
kosher.
As currency
Some species of clam, particularly
Mercenaria mercenaria, were in the past used by the Algonquians of Eastern North America to manufacture
wampum, a type of sacred
jewellery; and to make
shell money.
Species
Edible:
Not usually considered edible:
See also
External links
