I've taken my boat out clamming a couple of times lately (I intended to take my camera to shoot a few photos, but I keep forgetting -- maybe next time). Clamming is such a tranquil, even meditative, endeavor. There's no rush or hurry. Just gently pushing the clam rake under a clear blue sky, the top of the lighthouse peeking above the tree tops in the distance. It's not unusual to see a crab scurrying away, a few jumping mullet, or even a skate. In an hour or so we'd have enough clams for supper.
Back home we open the clams, and arrange them on a cookie sheet. A dollop of white wine and a slice of bacon on each one, then a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese...and they're ready to broil until the bacon is crisp.
Complement the clams with wheat thins (or another type of cracker) and a glass of wine, sit on the pizer with friends, and chat about life as the sun sets the western sky ablaze and sinks below the horizon.
Life is good!
Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.
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We left just one week ago and I am already missing everything about Ocracoke so badly. So I'm going to my pizer with a bottle of wine. No clams casino....
ReplyDeleteI hope Amy is doing well. Give her our best.
-Mandy
oh there you go again, with those Ocracoke words no one else has heard of ---a dallop of white wine.
ReplyDeleteDollop is not just an Ocracoke word. I'm from Alabama and I know what a dollp is. I knew exactly what you were talking about Philip.
ReplyDelete-Mandy
Dollop just means a small quantitiy. A dollop of white wine is a splash of wine. I don't think it's a regional term...but maybe it is.
ReplyDeletePhilip-
ReplyDeleteHow hard would it be for a "dingbatter" on vacation to actually catch some clams?
Thanks-
To catch clams you really only need access to shallow water in Pamlico Sound -- preferably an area that hasn't been overworked (hence the value of having a boat). A clam rake is a very good idea (I don't know if anyone on the island rents them; maybe one of our readers knows), but you can explore for clams with your bare feet. Part of it is just plain luck. Sometimes you find a good spot for clams, and sometimes you don't (and don't expect too much information from locals; knowledge of a good clamming area is often a closely guarded secret!).
ReplyDeletePhilip,
ReplyDeleteOn a recent trip to Ocracoke I saw, in the ocean at low tide...what I thought were skates. What is the diff between the stingray and skate. They seemed harmless but there were many of them several days in a row. I'd never seen them before in the ocean, only in the sound. Thanks, Carol (from Ohio)