Clams casino
Encyclopedia
Clams casino is a clam
"on the halfshell" dish with breadcrumbs and bacon
. It originated in Rhode Island
in the United States. It is often served as an appetizer in New England
and is served in variations nationally.
, peppers
, bacon
and garlic
. Worcestershire sauce
, salt and pepper, white wine, lemon juice
, and shallots or onion are also used. Tabasco sauce
is sometimes added, and parsley is sometimes used as a garnish.
The dish is popular with Italian-Americans, having "a permanent spot on just about every trattoria menu" in Little Italy, Manhattan
, and is considered an American classic. Clams casino is often served at Italian festivals and during the holidays in the United States.
There are many variations on the dish, but the constant factor is the bacon: "Bacon remains the major key to its success", with some chefs recommending smoked bacon for its salty flavor and others advocating an unsmoked variety.
, Rhode Island, by a maître d'hôtel for a woman of means wanting something special for her guests. Good Housekeeping Great American Classics attributes the dish to Mrs. Paran Stevens and maître d'hôtel Julius Keller. She named the dish after the hotel, and word and popularity of the dish has since spread across the United States, including New Orleans, where oysters are substituted for clams. Clams casino remains a very popular dish in Rhode Island, "appearing on almost every menu".
"In the first decades of this century (20th), if a restaurant wanted to be noted, it came up with a dish that involved the baking of shellfish
". While there was a profusion of this type of menu offering (often with the meat taken out of the shell prepared with sauce and returned to the shell), clams casino and oysters Rockefeller
"are among the few surviving dishes from the shellfish fad".
Clam
The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...
"on the halfshell" dish with breadcrumbs and bacon
Bacon
Bacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured using large quantities of salt, either in a brine or in a dry packing; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months in cold air, boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...
. It originated in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
in the United States. It is often served as an appetizer in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
and is served in variations nationally.
Ingredients
The dish uses littlenecks or cherrystone clams. Other basic ingredients include butterButter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
, peppers
Capsicum
Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...
, bacon
Bacon
Bacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured using large quantities of salt, either in a brine or in a dry packing; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months in cold air, boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...
and garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
. Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce , or Worcester sauce is a fermented liquid condiment; primarily used to flavour meat or fish dishes.First made at 60 Broad Street, Worcester, England, by two dispensing chemists, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, the Lea & Perrins brand was commercialised in 1837 and...
, salt and pepper, white wine, lemon juice
Lemon juice
The lemon fruit, from a citrus plant, provides a useful liquid when squeezed. Lemon juice, either in natural strength or concentrated, is sold as a bottled product, usually with the addition of preservatives and a small amount of lemon oil.-Uses:...
, and shallots or onion are also used. Tabasco sauce
Tabasco sauce
Tabasco sauce is the brand name for a hot sauce produced by US-based McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana. Tabasco sauce is made from tabasco peppers , vinegar, and salt, and aged in white oak barrels for three years. It has a hot, spicy flavor...
is sometimes added, and parsley is sometimes used as a garnish.
Preparation
The clams, bacon, and other ingredients are cooked in various ways depending on the recipe, and then added with breading to half the clam shell and baked or broiled (grilled from above) to a golden brown.The dish is popular with Italian-Americans, having "a permanent spot on just about every trattoria menu" in Little Italy, Manhattan
Little Italy, Manhattan
Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants.-Historical area:...
, and is considered an American classic. Clams casino is often served at Italian festivals and during the holidays in the United States.
There are many variations on the dish, but the constant factor is the bacon: "Bacon remains the major key to its success", with some chefs recommending smoked bacon for its salty flavor and others advocating an unsmoked variety.
History
According to legend, clams casino was developed in 1917 in the Little Casino in NarragansettNarragansett, Rhode Island
Narragansett is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 15,868 at the 2010 census, but there is a greater population in the summer. The nickname for the town is "Gansett". The town of Narragansett occupies a narrow strip of land running along the eastern bank...
, Rhode Island, by a maître d'hôtel for a woman of means wanting something special for her guests. Good Housekeeping Great American Classics attributes the dish to Mrs. Paran Stevens and maître d'hôtel Julius Keller. She named the dish after the hotel, and word and popularity of the dish has since spread across the United States, including New Orleans, where oysters are substituted for clams. Clams casino remains a very popular dish in Rhode Island, "appearing on almost every menu".
"In the first decades of this century (20th), if a restaurant wanted to be noted, it came up with a dish that involved the baking of shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
". While there was a profusion of this type of menu offering (often with the meat taken out of the shell prepared with sauce and returned to the shell), clams casino and oysters Rockefeller
Oysters Rockefeller
Oysters Rockefeller consists of oysters on the half-shell that have been topped with various other ingredients and are then baked or broiled.-History:...
"are among the few surviving dishes from the shellfish fad".