Spring calls for Clams, they taste like the ocean and kindly remind you that summer is on its way once again.
One of the most popular appetizers in any good restaurant or tasca around Portugal is this clam recipe. Fortunately, it is also one of the simplest ways to cook this marine mollusk. What really makes this recipe sing is the freshness of the clams, the quality of the olive oil, and the aromatic awesomeness of the garlic and coriander. It is usually served with a hearty portion of toasted and lightly buttered bread, which helps to sop up all the juicy goodness that comes along with the clams. It’s so simply delicious that you'll never again be able to walk by the market's seafood section without hearing the sirens serenade of the clams. If possible try to get some Vinho Verde, preferably from the Alvarinho varietal.
Ingredients:
Clams
Olive Oil
Garlic
Bay Leaf
White Wine
Coriander/Cilantro
Salt
Pepper
Lemon
Bread
Butter (optional)
Clam Alchemy:
Start by soaking the clams in a large bowl of water with a bit of salt and a tiny bit of flour. The salt will help them breathe (you'll see their sweet little oxygen bubbles coming out of the water) and the flour will help them to get rid of the sand. Change the water and clean the bottom of the bowl if needed.
While the clams take their last breaths, cover almost all the bottom of a large frying pan with olive oil and over low-medium heat, add some smashed garlic cloves and a big bay leaf. After the garlic begins to get some color, carefully add the clams. Put the heat up a bit and cover the pan with the lid, preferentially a transparent one.
Shake the whole pan with the lid on every once and again for a couple minutes. If you don’t have a glass lid, open it to see if the clams are opening. Add some white wine to make it saucy, shake the pan and let it simmer with the lid off so that the alcohol can evaporate. Taste the sauce to ensure that the alcohol flavor is gone, add salt and pepper to your taste and let it simmer a bit more.
Cut the coriander (cilantro) in small pieces and add to the pan before closing the lid so that it can sweat for a bit. Squeeze some lemon juice just before serving with the toasted bread. If you want to go a little more low-cal on this meal you can cut down on the olive oil a bit and not butter your bread. I would say you could also go no bread, but honestly it's gonna be pretty hard to sop up that saucy yumminess with a celery stick.
The night’s selection:
Vinho Verde is a unique kind of wine that has as of late, been grown all around the world, but in Portugal it is only produced in the Minho region in the western north. It’s called Verde not because of the color (green) but because it’s young wine, as opposed to mature wine. The Vinho Verde is made of different varietals and can be white, red or rosé, but from all of them our favorite is the white Alvarinho. This varietal, grown in Portugal exclusively in the region of Melgaço and Monção, produces one of the great wine wonders of the world.
Unfortunately, is not that easy to find information about it and it can be even more difficult to buy it outside of Portugal. In California, we have spotted some at Trader Joe's. If you have the to chance try it, you wont regret it, just be sure to chill it before serving.
The vineyards around this Portuguese northern baroque palace produce one of the best Vinho Alvarinho. Named after the Palace, the Palácio da Brejoeira, Alvarinho. Check it out online or request it at your favorite wine shop. It goes perfectly with the Clams à Bulhão Pato and some good Portuguese traditional music, re-invented in a unique way by Gaiteiros de Lisboa.
Combine the Clams, the Alavarinho and the music of Gaiteiros de Lisboa, and we assure you that you’ll have the feel of a real Portuguese evening.
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