Cape Cod shucks.

They shuck all over the peninsula.

They shuck from Falmouth to Chatham and from Sandwich to Provincetown.

Why do they shuck? Because they are really good at it and how else would they be able to get to all that great oyster and clam meat.

Shucking, if you haven't guessed yet, is the process of removing the shell from the shellfish and loosening the meat for consumption.

I recently returned from enjoying the ocean's bounty at the Cape Land and Sea Harvest and have rediscovered one of my favorite foods. The main purpose of the trip was to consume raw oysters by the pound and maybe pick up a cute outfit or an available Kennedy.

I struck out on the last two, but I ate my weight in shellfish. Thank goodness it isn't fattening.

The dish I can still taste in my mouth; the appetizer that I craved the entire six hours it took me to get back home, didn't even consist of oysters or clams. It was squid.

When most people think of squid their minds either trail off to some “Fear Factor” episode or to the ubiquitous fried calamari served in most bars. The dish of my dreams was neither in a formaldehyde scented gallon jar nor served with a ramekin of lukewarm marinara sauce.

My calamari was served in the most delicious lemon pesto sauce. The consistency of the squid was comparable to fresh pasta; extremely tender and light. It was a love affair that wasn't meant to last, at least not until I got home and went to the grocery store.

Don't let the look of squid turn you off. You can purchase just the bodies if you like. When you cut them into 1/4-inch rings, they look just like pasta. This preparation is good for both sauteed dishes and cold salads.

Another way to prepare the bodies for cooking is to rinse in cold water, pat dry, then fillet the body open flat with a paring knife. Pat the inside dry and score (shallow cuts) in a cross-hatch pattern. When the calamari is cooked to doneness, the fillets will coil into a tube and have a cool design on the outside. The coil looking calamari is best used for an appetizer because it takes more care to cook.

The ingredients for my favorite dish are simple. I started with a tablespoon of olive oil heated slightly in an eight-inch saute pan adding a clove of minced garlic, a shake of crushed red pepper flakes, a squirt of basil (Gourmet Garden blends found by fresh herbs in produce section, it is $5 but absolutely worth it), a tablespoon of butter, a splash of 2 percent milk and a splash of lemon juice.

Stirring continually while adding all ingredients and leaving the heat on medium high, I placed two fillets (sprinkled with salt and pepper) scored side down in the pan and shook and stirred until the filets coiled.

The entire cooking time was less than five minutes, so plan ahead.

For a richer sauce, heavy cream could be substituted for the milk.

I also made a couple of cold salads to experiment with complimentary flavors. When cooking the squid for cold salads, there are two important rules. Hot boiling salted water and a very short cooking time. It only took me 30 seconds for the calamari to cook.

After cooking, strain and rinse quickly in cold water to stop the cooking process. Taste test the squid as you would pasta when it starts to look opaque. It should not be chewy, rubbbery or any other synonym that makes you feel like you are eating a Twizzler.

My least favorite combination was sesame ginger, and the best was a Thai mix of soy, lime, sugar, mint, carrot, sweet onion and a bearable hot chili pepper. A light tomato caper mix worked out well also.

I think the key to a good calamari salad is having a prominent acid. Stuffed calamari can be sauteed, baked, or braised. Squid stuffed with chopped prosciutto, grated hard cheese, and finely chopped aromatics can be sauteed for three minutes per side, remembering to not overstuff and to secure the open end with a toothpick.

Baking and braising takes more patience and added attention to recipes. The timing is extremely different from one recipe to the next and having a trial run beforehand will save you a headache.

For frying calamari at home, authorities recommend soaking squid for 30 minutes in seasoned buttermilk at room temperature then draining and frying. I tried it with the tentacles and thought they were more tender. I fried with and without a flour dredge and preferred without the flour and only a sprinkling of lemon juice and a dash of salt.

Squid can be purchased fresh or frozen and is widely available in most areas. It is especially loved in the Mediterranean and in my house by me.

Valerie Usowski, an Auburn native, is the banquet manager at the Auburn Holiday Inn and a Culinary Institute of America graduate