Dish of steamers in Gloucester, Mass.
Photo by Paul Keleher
“Today, no summer is really perfect for the New Englander until, napkin under chin, he has eaten his fill of fresh steamed clams, dipped in broth and then in melted butter.’’
From Secrets of New England cooking (1947), by Ella Shannon Bowles and Dorothy S. Towle
That was then. Now it’s hard to find “steamers” (soft-shell clams) because invasive green crabs devour young clams.
