Coquina Soup

Last week, I came across a quote in An Abundance of Curiosities: The Natural History of North Carolina’s Coastal Plain (Bolen and Parnell), that took me back to the summers of my childhood.

“With a little effort, gourmands can acquire enough coquinas as stock for a savory broth or chowder.”

I call baloney, Bolen and Parnell. Microwaved bologna, specifically, which is also from my childhood. I can smell it now, stinking up the whole house.

And let me tell you why I would dare argue with these two fine scientists from my graduate school, UNC-Wilmington, who know everything, it seems, except for this one thing.

When I was in upper elementary school, my mom remarried. We moved to the beach, and I gained a stepsister a year older than me. I was thrilled with both my new home and my new best friend. My stepsister and I played and played and played – dress-up, Barbies, make believe. We were almost too old, but not quite. Mostly, we played at the beach, our backyard.

One day, sifting through the intertidal zone, we had the idea to collect enough coquina clams for a soup.

This was not hard to do, as coquina clams abound on the Carolina shore at low tide, wiggling themselves through loose sand grains in the company of mole crabs. We gathered a bucket of coquinas, rinsed them, and put them in a pot of water on the kitchen stove.

The shells boiled opened like butterfly wings flapping in shades of purple, green, blue, and pink. Inside, the sad little beige clams let go and dropped to the bottom of the pot, piling up, rubbery and ridiculous.

We ladled the soup into bowls. I believe we had oyster crackers on top.

That soup was way too salty, though we had not seasoned it. It was saturated with sea salt and sand. It was all grit, brine, and chewy meat. It wasn’t fit to be eaten by a squid. We did not try coquina soup again.

Nowadays, when I make clam chowder, the clams come already shucked. Somehow, they’re not salty or sandy. I make the soup New England Style, with cream, or Down East Style, with no tomato or milk, just salt ham and potatoes, the clams themselves the stars of the show. It’s really good either way.

But if you happen to make a pot of coquina soup, please save a bowl for me. With oyster crackers. I’d love to taste that wonderful, awful dish one more time.

by Jessi Waugh

Image by Luis Fernando Talavera from Pixabay