Clams in Andalucía--Almeijas and Navajas

 My oh my are the clams delicious in Andalucía.  My very favorites are the teeny tiny clams, known as almeijas.  I would go into a tapas restaurant that had them on their menu, and when they told me they were out of them, I would leave without having a thing to eat--that is how important it was to me to have them each and every day--sometimes twice a day, and if it were possible I would have them three times a day.  You know how sometimes when you love something so much that you eat much too much of it and you then paradoxically become rather sick of it?  That did not happen with almeijas and I.

The flavor is really garlic and olive oil, so how could you really go wrong?  On top of that the almeijas are small and tender and it is an altogether wonderful experience.

The second best clam experience is with the razor clams--so named for their resemblance to the old style razors.  In Andalucía they are called navajas, and they are quite delicious as well.  They are more of a mouthful than the almeijas, but excellent, and they have the added bonus that if you fall in love with them in Spain, you can find them in the UK or the United States.  They travel internationally.