Relationships, when you think about it, are not unlike recipes.  The fate of any dish or love affair, it seems, is determined by a number of factors like skill, experience, timing, and even dumb luck.  And before you try to execute you either, you're given some guidlelines and advice from a couple different sources, some of which are more reliable than others.  But where do these guidelines come from?  How do we learn to cook and/or cultivate relationships?  Is it strictly through explicit instruction from our superiors, or does knowledge creem in through other, sneaky ways?

 

This piece poses these and other questions, and chooses to look at this delicious for answers.  For the whole, delicious story, check out my complete essay here as a PDF.

 

 

Ingredients:

 

• 1-2 lbs clams (still in shells, not canned)

• 1 cup white wine (some people just use white wine though I've used equal parts water and wine in the past and have found that works for me)

• 1 cup water (also - I like to use more liquid than other recipes because I like this dish to be rich and brothy)

• 1 bulb garlic, finely chopped

• 1-2 shallots, chopped

• At least one stick of butter.  Don't bother measuring -- just follow your instincts.

 

NOTE: I've since been told that my way of steaming clams could be improved upon, and that I've done things little "out of order."  I'll definitely try other methods in the future, but for now, I know that these steps will work.

 

Directions:

 

1. Soak clams in a large bowl of water for about 15-20 minutes to remove any excessive grime and dirt on their shells.

2. While clams soak, dump water and wine into a large pot under high heat, bringing it to a boil.

3. While waiting for liquid to boil, scrub the clams to remove any stubborn dirt on their shells before transferring them to a dry bowl.

4. Once pot reaches a boil, add shallots, garlic, and butter (I suggest slicing butter into smaller bits before doing this).  Stir everything together until butter melts and garlic starts to get "fragrant," as the cookbooks say.

5. Add clams to pot, and cover with a lid for about 5-7 minutes, or until clams have opened (though try to avoid checking them too often --you don't want to disturb the cooking process).

6. Remove pot from heat and discard any clams that didn't open.   Serve over linguine with a healthy covering of Parmesan Reggiano.