The most expensive tin from the sea in our collection of canned clams

If you compare prices in a conservas shop, the clam is always at the top. It costs more than the cockle, more than the mussel and more than almost any tinned fish, and it is no whim: there are concrete reasons behind it. In this selection of canned clams we have gathered clams from the Galician Rías, natural and with no dressing to mask anything, from eight artisan canneries.

Why the clam costs what it costs

• The raw material is already expensive at source. Fresh clams are among the most prized shellfish at the fish market, and the tin starts from that price.
• They have to be gutted by hand, piece by piece. This is the step that makes the difference: removing each clam's digestive tract without breaking the flesh. It cannot be automated, and it is what guarantees not a trace of sand or bitterness.
• The yield loss is enormous. From each kilo of fresh clams very little net product remains once they are cooked, opened and cleaned.

Natural: three ingredients

Clam, water and salt. Nothing more. No oil, no escabeche and no sauce, because with a product like this any dressing would be a waste and, above all, a way of disguising things. In a natural tin there is nowhere to hide: if the clam is not perfect, you notice at the first bite.

How to read the size

The number tells you how many pieces are in the tin, and here the logic is what you would expect: fewer pieces means bigger clams and a higher price.

• 8/10 and 10/12 pieces: the top size. Impressive clams, eaten one at a time and served on a plate. La Brújula and Real Conservera.
• 14/16 to 20/25 pieces: the balance between size and quantity, the most versatile for the table. Cambados, Ramón Peña, FerroMar and Los Peperetes.
• 25/30 and 30 pieces: good-sized clams at a more accessible price, and the ones that work best if you are adding them to a rice dish or a fideuá.

Before serving

Like the cockle, the clam is better served cool, between 10 and 12 ºC: put the tin in the fridge twenty minutes before opening it. Tip it onto a plate with all its liquor, which is seawater and tastes as good as the clam, and serve with a cold albariño. A few drops of lemon if you like, but a clam of this standard does not need them.

If you are looking for the other great shellfish of the rías, we also have our collection of canned cockles.

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