Everything has to be overly clean before, during and after I cook.

3 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed.In a glass measuring cup, crumble the saffron threads into the fish stock and let stand for 10 minutes..

In a large pot, heat the olive oil.Add the minced garlic and diced onion and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until the vegetables are softened, about 4 minutes.Add the saffron-infused fish stock and Albariño and bring to a simmer, stirring, until thickened.

Add the clams, cover and cook, shaking the pot, until the clams open, about 6 minutes.Discard any clams that do not open.

Spoon the clams into bowls.

Season the Albariño sauce with salt and pepper, pour it over the clams and serve them with crusty bread..And it lead to that Great Migration that lead to a lot of the food that we cook today.

I think this dinner is an opportunity to be authentic to ourselves, to show who we are and what we’ve done.We’re proud of our heritage, but we’re also evolving..

As a kid we never celebrated.I didn’t have that kind of relationship with my parents, with my father dying when I was extremely young and with my mother being incarcerated.