Day 41: an imaginary trip abroad
Nine times out of ten I will order a shellfish pasta when I go to an Italian restaurant, which obviously hasn’t been for quite a while now. But, if I’m honest, when it comes to cooking shellfish at home, and I am lucky enough – or organised enough – to get my hands on some fresh shellfish, I tend to opt for a steam-cook method with garlic, wine, onions, cream, and parsley. To consider cooking it any other way, and pass up the opportunity to dip fresh crusty bread into that creamy shellfish liquor, is not a decision I’d make lightly.
So, with the birth of Shellfish Saturday last week, and keeping true to the 365 Days of Nigella mission brief (to try new things), I am delighted on this wonderful Saturday to have cooked Nigella’s Linguine with Clams. If this is on a menu, this is what I would go for, and it was after hearing Nigella talk about it with Emily Thomas on BBC Food Chain that I texted my fishmonger to see if he had any clams for the weekend. Luckily for me, he did.
Nigella’s Linguine with Clams
Nigella’s Linguine with Clams is exactly as straight forward as the name suggests; briefly steam some clams in chili, garlic, and vermouth and then add almost-cooked pasta, toss about, and cook for another minute or so. Minimum effort, maximum impact. I doubled the quantities to feed two very greedy people.
Whenever I eat clams, particularly in this way, it always takes me back to a trip abroad; I guess this is when I would normally get my shellfish-fix, and I imagine it’s the same for many of you as well. Some of my most memorable occasions were, in fact, all in Italy: Sardinia, Sicily, and Milan to be precise - with many a happy memory from Spain, too.
It’s also becoming quite the tradition to enjoy a bottle or two of wine with our shellfish pick each Saturday, and today a few glasses of a dry, chilled rosé really did make us feel like we were on holiday. Perhaps we should have turned the heating up and put on our sunglasses to mimic the feeling of dining on shellfish and drinking good wine in the midday Mediterranean sun. I mean, let’s face it, to take a trip away right now is what so many of us are dreaming of (even if it is an imaginary one), and while we mustn’t forget the harsh light of reality at the moment, it is important to get some emotional respite once in a while. We very much enjoyed our imaginary trip to the Mediterranean, thanks to Nigella’s Linguine with Clams and a bottle or two of wine.
Flavour musings
In addition to sight and taste, it’s also the sound of the empty shells clanking on to the porcelain, or pottery, that evoke such wonderful memories for me. This is definitely one of those bowls of food that you do not want to end; that garlicky, gently-heated oceanic liquor soaking into the linguine pasta is just divine. The question I have for you though is: do you eat all the clams from their shells first, or as you stumble across them while working your way through the tangle of pasta?
