One of the dishes we enjoyed during our recent visit to restaurant Logia tis Ploris in Athens was Clams with Onions and Dill (Όστρακα “της Πλώρης”). The restaurant served the shellfish in a boat-shaped dish, and used a collection of cockles (Κυδώνια or Cerastoderma glauconum), smooth Venus clams (Γυαλιστερές or Callista chione), and razor clams (Πετροσολίνες or Solen marginatus).
We made an interesting discovery when eating Clams with Onions and Dill. We used farm-raised New Zealand cockles to make it and though I hadn’t added salt, the broth was too salty to eat on its own. Too salty, that is, until we squeezed fresh lemon juice into the broth. The tart lemon miraculously cancelled out the broth’s saltiness and, after adding lemon, we slurped up every bit of delicious liquid.
I made this with the only live clams available at my seafood purveyor this week. If more varieties had been available, I would’ve used a mixture, to provide the varieties of flavors and textures we experienced at Logia tis Ploris.