Clam Broth

A two-line recipe that assumes you already know what a chafing dish is for. The whole point is the liquor inside the shells, so everything hinges on keeping it clean and not overcooking.

• The stray "4 cups milk"The trailing line has no instruction attached and no place in the method as written; it may be a stray from an adjacent recipe. Treat it as optional, and if you want clam broth with milk, heat an equal volume of scalded milk and combine off the heat so it does not curdle against the salty liquor.
• Which clamsA book of this period most likely intends hard-shell clams — quahogs or cherrystones — though the recipe does not say. A dozen cherrystones yields something under a cup of liquor, so a dozen serves one or two in the small cups the period used. Scale up accordingly.
• Purge before you wash"Wash" understates it. Scrub the shells, then let the clams sit in cold salted water 20-30 minutes so they spit out sand. Grit in the liquor cannot be strained out entirely, even through cloth.
• Dead clamsDiscard any clam whose shell is already gaping and does not close when tapped, before cooking. After cooking, discard any that stayed shut.
• Cook only until they openSteam over a small amount of water or none at all, covered, and pull them off the moment the shells gape — five to eight minutes. Clams left on the heat toughen fast, and the recipe wants the liquor, not the meat.
• Strain properlyDamp the cheesecloth first and use two or three layers in a sieve. Pour off the liquor slowly and leave the last spoonful in the pan; that is where the sand settles.
• Do not saltClam liquor is already saline. Season with white pepper, a scrape of nutmeg or a spoonful of cream if anything at all, and taste before adding anything else.
• The clams themselvesThe recipe silently discards them. Chop the meat for fritters, chowder or creamed clams on toast rather than throwing it out.