Chowder Clam

I grew up very close to Long Island's beaches, and one of the changes since my childhood is that there used to be the shells of very large clams like this one (as long as my hand) strewn along the sand as you walked. Now these are a rare find. I bought a few in Chinatown yesterday, steamed them, chopped them up and ate them with spaghetti. I probably won't use this shell for anything; rather I'll stow it in a corner and leave it be. All those years ago they served as ash trays and canvasses for children's paintings. I'd make mobiles of them and hang them from the ceiling. Clam shells were all over the place.

As a little boy I would go to the shore of the Great South Bay and poke through the sand with my toes to find clams, but as the years passed we'd wear sneakers because there would be too much broken glass down there. Now, clams around Long Island have gone the way of the oyster, mountains of which continuously emerged from New York's waters until the early 20th century. The city's nickname is "The Big Apple," but that's silly since oysters and clams made the area world-famous while apples are the big thing farther inland.

Chowder clams are the largest size class. Smaller clams are eaten raw --now that thought brings up the memories!