What is White Clam Sauce?
White clam sauce is a classic seafood sauce, often used in pasta dishes. The sauce is made from chopped clams, white, wine, olive oil, garlic and herbs and seasonings. These ingredients are cooked together to create a light, yet rich and flavorful seafood sauce. The sauce has an oily texture and is a wonderful addition to pasta with mussels.
What does White Clam Sauce Taste Like?
Sour is one of the five main tastes. It is tart and bright, sometimes with a mouth-puckering quality. Sour is a naturally occurring flavor found in many foods, including citrus, vinegar, various dairy products, and certain fruits. Sour is used to enhance a dish or drink and is used as both a main and complimentary flavor.
Umami is one of five main tastes. It is savory with a depth of flavor. Umami is a taste in many foods, including meat, seafood, beans, and nuts. It is both naturally occurring and created through the specific use of ingredients to create a satisfying taste. Umami is characteristic of proteins and savory dishes.
Spicy is a flavor that brings heat and fire to food by creating a burning sensation in the mouth or sinuses. Spicy flavors come from hot peppers, horseradish, and wasabi. Spicy adds a kick and sometimes complexity to a dish and releases endorphins, creating a mildly addictive quality.
Ingredients
Clams are a mollusk, which means they have a shell. The clam is small and bite-sized and has a white meat which is soft and slippery. The flavor of a clam is mild, salty and delicately fishy, without being overpowering. Clams are tender, though when overcooked they become tough. They are used in many cuisines around the world.
Olive oil is extracted from the fresh olive, which grows on a tree. Many olives are needed in the extraction of the oil. This is done by a mechanical process and sometimes by a chemical process, though the mechanical method is highly preferred. Olive oil is a golden color and changes slightly due to whether it is extra virgin, or first cold pressed. The flavor of olive oil depends on how it was processed. Lower quality oils will taste mild, while high quality olive oils will have a robust flavor that is green, or may have a spicy quality. Extra virgin and first cold pressed or preferred. Olive oil lends a depth of flavor to any savory dish.
White wine is an alcoholic beverage made mainly from green, white or yellow grapes. Red grapes are occasionally used. The wine goes through a fermentation process before bottling and potentially aging. Common white wines include Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay. White wine is a pale yellow color and varies in shade, depending on the kind of wine. The flavor is milder than red wine and has less tannins. White wine can be sweet or dry and range across many flavors, including fruity, citrusy, floral, minerally and oaky. The ABV hovers between 12.5% - 14.5%. It is best served cool.
Butter is made from churned cream, usually from a cow. It has a cream color and a texture that is smooth and melts easily. The flavor is mild and creamy. Butter is often sold in square sticks, or as a flat or round block. It is delicious on bread. It pairs better in baked goods than salted butter, due to its more neutral taste. It also makes an excellent cooking fat.
Pecorino Romano is made from sheep's milk and is one of Italy's oldest cheeses. It is a hard cheese that is aged for five or more months, with a flavor that is very similar to Parmigiano Reggiano. Pecorino has a warm white color and a bit of a gritty and dry texture and is covered in a black rind. Pecorino is more tangy and saltier than Parmigiano Reggiano, with nutty and highly umami taste. It is easy to grate and a small amount goes a long way.
Garlic is used in cuisines around the world and is extremely popular for its depth of flavor. The garlic bulb forms underneath the soil and is harvested once it reaches maturity. The bulb typically has thin, dry, white and flaky skin, surrounding the individual cloves. Often there are 10-12 cloves to a bulb/head of garlic. The cloves are cream colored with a strong smell and flavor that is spicy and sharp. Garlic takes on a nutty flavor in addition, when cooked. It is used in countless dishes, sauces, breads and more.
Parsley is an aromatic herb with slender green stalks and sturdy, small green leaves. The parsley is dried and ground into flakes. The flakes are often used as a garnish, as their flavor is mild and easily masked. They taste green, vegetal and mildly sharp. Fresh parsley packs a punch with flavor, but its dried version is much softer.
Garlic powder is made from dehydrated garlic cloves that have been ground into a super fine powder. This powder is a pale yellow/golden color and is used to flavor foods. It works well in a pinch and can be used in many of the same ways that fresh garlic is used. The flavor is milder than raw or cooked garlic and is spicy, pungent and nutty. Garlic granules are another form of dehydrated garlic, but rather than powder it is coarser and has the same function. It is often used on top of fresh pizza, as a light dusting.
Dried basil is an aromatic herb. Fresh green basil leaves are dried and often ground into tiny flakes. Dried basil can be used year round, as this herb only grows in the warm months of the year. The dried herb is a muted green color, with an herbal, spicy and green zesty flavor. It can be added as a seasoning to salad dressings and a variety of savory dishes.
The peppercorn plant grows in tropical climate and produces tiny black fruit. The fruit is dried and become hard. At this point it is ground into a textured powder comprised of black and grey dots. It has a flavor that is spicy, pungent and sharp. Pepper is an extremely popular spice, especially in Western cuisines and lends a gentle heat to dishes. There are different varieties of black pepper and the flavor changes subtly because of this.
Oregano is an herb in the mint family and grows on thin and delicate stalks that produce tiny oblong leaves with tapered ends. These leaves are less than half an inch in length. Oregano has a mildly fuzzy texture and is thin and delicate. The green herb has a sharp and peppery flavor that is pungent, slightly bitter, green and a bit minty. When eaten, raw oregano creates a stringent feeling in the mouth. This herb is used in many cuisines and can be found frequently in Italian dishes, such as tomato sauce.
