The “t” was a typo in the original post that didn’t get caught because it’s also a word and wasn’t flagged and I didn’t spot it – corrected. Liz, by the way, doesn’t say anything about whether machas is used for more than just razor clams, she just mentions that’s what razor clams are called in talking about one particular dish. It may or may not be the case, but since razor clams like that don’t exist here in Buenos Aires, Los Chilenos is using regular clams for the dish, which was the point. And also that they’re not scallops, which is how they translated them on the menu.

Cholgas are definitely mussels, though Chileans use several other terms including “choritos.” The “choro zapato” is so-called because it approaches the size of your shoe.

I get the impression that machas can be more generic as to different types of clams. The English version of the menu translates it as scallops, but when I showed the waiter a picture of scallops, clams, or razor clams, he agreed that it was “clams”. The menu also translates cholgas as clams, but he had to agree that we were talking about mussels.