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| | Soft-shell clam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
 | | Soft-shell Clams, Mya arenaria, popularly called "steamers", "softshells", "longnecks" or "Ipswich clams", are clams that live buried in tidal mudflats most famously on the coast of New England but their range extends much farther north to Canada and to the Southern states. |
 | | These clams have a hard calcium shell, but it is very thin and easily broken, so they are called "soft-shells" in contrast with their beach neighbors the thick-shelled quahogs. |
 | | Steamers are an integral part of the New England clam bake, where they are served steamed whole in the shell, then pulled from the shell at the table and dipped, first in the clam broth they were cooked in to rinse away sand, then in butter. |
| en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Soft-shell_Clam (295 words) |
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