There are surf clams, good for industrial chowders and fried clam strips. There are razor clams, which are best in Chinatown and at Casa Mono, where the chef Andy Nusser does magic with them using garlic and parsley.

And there is the simple hard-shell clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, the northern quahog. These clams have a thick, slightly ridged exterior shell, dirty white in color, with a smoother texture on the inside, slightly pearlescent and marked with purple splotches. Indians used these for wampum. 

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