COME OUT OF YOUR SHELL

Yes, you can cook oysters, clams, and mussels at home! So we're dishing out some tips to help you make them.

- BY ANNA HEZEL

Let’s start with a biology lesson: Clams, mussels, and oysters are bivalves, a class of mollusks, which are a type of shellfish. Almost anything with two shells that fit together with a hinge is a bivalve; if you can order it on the half shell, it likely qualifies.

Bivalves are filter feeders, explains Paul Lightfoot, general manager of Patagonia Provisions, which offers tinned fish products at Whole Foods Market and other grocers. “That means they obtain nutrients by pulling them directly from the water,” he says. And they actually help keep our oceans clean, says Lauren Kiino, culinary director at Hog Island Oyster Co., a California-based oyster producer. “One oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day,” she says. Because these helpful, hardworking creatures eat food that’s low in mercury, they’re low in mercury too—and an excellent source of protein and omega-3s. Plus, they can be surprisingly inexpensive, and they're quick to prep and totally delicious.

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