This section is from the book "The Edible Mollusca Of Great Britain And Ireland", by M. S. Lovell. Also available from Amazon: The Best-Ever Fish & Shellfish Cookbook.
Wash the shells and put them into a saucepan with a little water, then put them on the fire for a few minutes to open them. Pick the fish out and put them into a clean saucepan, with an onion chopped very small, salt, pepper, and butter.
Fry till they are of a good brown colour, then add water or broth, and boil till a strong soup is made. If preferred, fresh fish may be added when serving it.
Wash them well, dry them, and place them in a saucepan or casserole in the oven, which must not be hot enough to burn them; when open, take them out of their shells, and place them on a very slow fire, with butter, parsley, and a little chopped onion; when tender, add a little flour, pepper and half a glass of white wine. As soon as they are ready to serve, add the yolk of an egg, well beaten, and the juice of a lemon.
Wash and open them as above, add butter and some chopped parsley, serve in their own liquor, with the juice of a lemon squeezed into it.
After having well washed the shells, put them into an earthen vessel, with a piece of butter; when open, pass the liquor that runs from them through a sieve, and take the fish out of the shells. Place the fish in the liquor, and add more butter, mixed with chopped parsley, pepper, and salt; moisten them with broth, white wine, or water; let them boil some minutes, and, when ready to serve, add an egg well beaten, some lemon-juice or vinegar.
Tapes au naturel - Almejas al naturel - Prepare them as mentioned in the recipe above, then put the fish in a saucepan with their own liquor; add whole peppercorns and cook them over a very slow fire, shaking them about from time to time; then add lemon-juice and shake them again over the fire. Salt to your taste, and serve without any other sauce.
Scald the fish in boiling water to open their shells, but do not let them be heated more than necessary, clean them nicely, and mix them with a white sauce, acidulated with lemon-juice or vinegar; use with boiled or fried fish.
 
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