By Ron Jackimowicz

Cuisine editor

As the owner of Rugged Coast Seafood, Brandon Williams probably spends as much time up to his knees in mud as anyone in the area.

That experience made him a perfect choice for Chef Shawn Hanlin in the final discussion in the Ground to Globe food series held last week at the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute.

Their talk about Pacific Northwest favorites centered around clams.

“We sure had a good turnout,” Williams said. “I was impressed.”

And after they discussed some history, where to dig and tips on cleaning clams, they got around to the fun part — cooking them.

While the clam chowder was cooking, they fried up some gaper or Empire clams.

“They went fast,” Williams said. “They are a real delight. Back from 1900-1930 they harvested a quarter-million pounds of gaper clams. It was a big business in town ... These clams are a proud tradition in Coos Bay.”

Besides being protein-rich, Williams said one of the best things about clams is that they are a sustainable food that can be caught locally fairly     easily.

Clamming is popular in the area from Reedsport to Bandon, but Williams does a lot of his digging in the South Slough area below the Charleston bridge.

He said that an annual shellfish license costs $6.50 and allows the bearer to collect 20 clams a day, of which 12 can be the big gaper clams.

“The best way to learn how to clean clams is to stop by a fish-cleaning station after low tide at Charleston,” Williams said. “Everyone has a different technique. I could tell you how to clean clams, but if you see it, you’ll learn how to do it a lot better.”