National Clams on the Half Shell Day Date in the current year: March 31, 2024

Clam is a common name for several kinds of freshwater and marine bivalve mollusks. When used in a culinary sense, it denotes bivalve mollusks that don’t live near the bottom (unlike scallops) and don’t live attached to a substrate (unlike mussels and oysters).

Clams are part of many cuisines around the world. They are commonly eaten in North America, as well as in some European and Asian countries (for example, Japan and the coastal regions of India). Clams can be eaten raw, boiled in water or a wine sauce, steamed, fried or baked. They can be also used to cook a variety of dishes, such as stuffed clams, clam cakes (clam fritters), clam chowder, and clams casino.

The simplest way to serve clams is the half shell; it helps to preserve their natural juices. The upper shell of a clam is removed using a sturdy knife with a thin blade (it is called shucking a clam), and the lower shell containing the meat and natural juices is served on a bed of crushed ice or rock salt.

Raw clams on the half shell are usually served with a wedge of lemon and some kind of sauce. The right way to eat clams on the half shell is to squeeze some lemon juice on the meat, pluck it from the shell, dip it into the sauce if you want, and bite into the plump flesh of the mollusk.

Although “clams on the half shell” normally means raw clams, cooked clams can be served this way, too. Arguably the most famous cooked clam “on the half shell” dish is clams casino. It originated in Rhode Island and is a popular appetizer in New England.

The dish is believed to have been developed in the early 20th century in the Little Casino in Narragansett, hence the name “clams casino”. Clams casino quickly became a popular dish in Rhode Island and made its way to other states.

The key ingredients of clams casino are hard clams (littlenecks or cherrystones), breadcrumbs, and bacon, either smoked or unsmoked. Other common ingredients used to make the dish include butter, white wine, lemon juice, Tabasco or Worcestershire sauce, bell peppers, garlic, and onions or shallots. The clam meat, bacon, and other ingredients are cooked, added with breading to the half shell, and then broiled or baked to a golden brown.

Another popular baked clam dish served on the half shell is clams oreganata. It is an Italian-American dish consisting of clams topped with breadcrumbs, olive oil or butter, and oregano. Clams oreganata is often served during the Feast of the Seven Fishes, a traditional Italian-American Christmas Eve meal.

If you’re a fan of shellfish, don’t forget to celebrate National Clams on the Half Shell Day on March 31. It’s the perfect excuse to go out to a seafood restaurant or invite your friends over and learn how to shuck clams or how to make clams casino.