50 Foods, 50 States: The Must-Eat Roadfoods Across America

Clams hand-raked at low tide from beds in the Essex River on the North Shore of Massachusetts are breaded in cornmeal and fried in oil that traditionally is at least half lard. The result is a crusty, pale gold nugget big enough to be one greedy mouthful with the distinctive marine smack of a freshly opened mollusk.