Topical Guide 677
Mark Dorset
Food: Clams Casino
What a Piece of Work I Am: Chapter 13:
When Ariane returned, Curt said to Arlene, “What do you say we have a couple of shrimp cocktails?”
Ariane pursed her lips. From them issued a muted clucking sound. When Curt and Arlene looked at her, she shook her head just enough for them to notice.
“That’s our favorite,” said Curt. “Shrimp cocktail.”
“Mr. Burger’s favorite appetizer,” said Arlene.
“Uh-uh,” said Ariane. “Clams casino.” She winked to show them that she was on their side. She touched Curt’s arm to show him that he must let her be his guide in this.
Wikipedia:
Clams casino is a clam “on the halfshell” dish with breadcrumbs and bacon. Green peppers are also a common ingredient. […]
According to legend, the recipe for clams casino was originally developed in 1917 in the Little Casino in Narragansett, 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.”
The Central Park Casino was offering “soft clams a la Casino” as early as 1900.
According to Merrill Shindler, “in the first decades of this century [the 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.”
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.
See also:
Food, Appetite for TG 56; Food, Chicken, Chicken versus Clams TG 44; Food: as Significant Element of a Remembered Incident and Its Literary Reproduction TG 34; Salami TG 135; Food: Preferences: Chicken versus Clams TG 155; Food: In Popular Culture TG 155; Food: International Cuisines in Translation: Chinese: Chow Mein TG 400; Food: Kartoffelklösse TG 367; Food: Aïoli, Chocolate Decadence TG 424; Food: Artificial TG 460; Cooking TG 463; Food and Drink: Kir Royale, Fusilli Bolognese TG 469; Cultural Differences in Styles, Methods, and Etiquette of Eating TG 492; “Leftovers” TG 494; Swiss: Züri Gschnätzlets TG 513; Fictional: Bouillabaisse Stir-Fry TG 539; Nachos TG 550; Regional Dishes: Redfish Court Bouillon TG 604
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