Portuguese Pork and Clams

Portuguese Pork and Clams

During this first week of blogging my husband and I (who are from Columbus, Ohio) are vacationing on Cape Cod. Having received Emeril’s cookbook in advance, I was very excited to learn it has a few recipes that we are able to make using local products, while near the coast.

What some people may not be aware of is the lower Cape (near Provincetown) is well known for its Portuguese fishing heritage, so the recipe for Portuguese Pork and Clams instantly leaped out at me.  Seemingly appropriate for our location.

Provincetown has a 1,000 year history of European and Scandinavian fisherman working the Atlantic waters between Europe and the east coast of America and Canada. In fact, cod is the official food of Portugal.  You’ll find Portuguese bakeries and restaurants in P’town, as well as a massive black and white photo-memorial to the wives of Portuguese fishermen on the side of a pier. Not to mention, my maternal grandmother was part Portuguese. Let’s just say I connected with this recipe.

So with crock pot in tow, we went on a mission to find the ingredients. Unfortunately, substitution began immediately as we could not muster up Boston butt pork from any of the nearby shops. But we found a fatty enough cut that would work well for slow cooking and compliment the briny clams. Done. As for the clams, I had every intention of digging them up myself but the reality of a shellfish license and specific fishing days drove us to a small fish market in Dennis-- which one can not argue with when it comes to fresh seafood. The clams were gorgeous and delicious!

With pork, clams and paprika mix in hand, we hunkered down at our place for dinner (Kevin was busy watching football, while I chopped and diced). With patio doors open and fresh sea air billowing through the curtains, we let the crock pot work its magic while sipping wine and discussing the outcome of this new cookbook challenge.  In the end (4 hours later), the meal was glorious. The sauce had some heat as I went a little heavy handed on the cayenne- but overall, it was fantastic! The clams steamed open after about an hour of being submerged in the pork mixture and the crusty Italian bread sopped up the spicy sauce beautifully.

Even though we have had some amazing meals this past week, we discussed how this meal again (and the proper cut of meat) will make it into our regular repertoire of dishes. It ostly requires letting the ingredients simmer and develop flavor. Portuguese Pork and Clams is a truly remarkable recipe and, despite being in landlocked Columbus, I think we can easily find Boston butt pork and Boston-harvested clams (from Frank’s seafood!) to make an even better round two.

Stay tuned for the redux…