It’s almost impossible for me to go too long without craving a repeat of some version of this dish; last night it was again time for spaghetti and clams. Barry calls it comfort food.

• Italian-grain Afeltra spaghetti from Eataly, cooked al dente, then tossed in a large, enameled cast iron pot in which two garlic cloves from Whole Foods, minced, and one dried Itria-Sirissi chili (peperoncino di Sardegna intero) from Buon Italia were heated in some olive oil before they were joined by [lots of] clams from Blue Moon Fish, along with their cooking juices, which had just been steamed with a little water in a separate pot until they had opened), the entire mix sprinkled with a bunch of parsley from Eataly and lovage from Windfall Farms, both chopped, then served in shallow bowls with an Eric Kayser ‘baguette monge’ on the table
• the wine was an Italian (Campania) white, Taburno Falanghina del Sannio 2014
• the music was Sir Edward Elgar, Symphony No 2, Barenboim conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin

the black bowl barely visible in the first image, cradling the clam shells