Spaghetti alle vongole

Naples and the Campanian coast are the home ground for spaghetti alle vongole, and the first thing to establish about any given plate is which of the two versions it belongs to. In bianco means no tomato: clams, garlic, olive oil, parsley, chilli and the liquor the shells release. In rosso adds tomato, either a handful of halved cherry tomatoes or a light passata, and the Neapolitan preference splits by household rather than by rule. The clams themselves matter more than either choice. Vongole veraci, the carpet shell, have a thinner shell and a sweeter, more saline meat than the cheaper hard clams often substituted, and they are what the dish is built around.