CLAM BAKE

Now that we're in the midst of summer and fast approaching our country's independence day, my thoughts are tunneled into that most wonderful of summer feasts; the clam bake.  Nothing signals summer better.  You have good food, family, friends and possibly a beach....or not.  It really doesn't matter.  What matters most is the great seafood one is about to consume.  Can't you just picture it.  A gingham tablecloth with mounds of lobster, mussels, sweet corn on the cob, oysters, a bisque, chowder and sometimes sausage.
A typical clam bake (or clambake) begins with gathering seaweed (traditionally rockweed -Ascophyllum nodosum) at the shoreline; seaweed is an important adjunct to cooking the food. To keep the seaweed fresh, it is necessary to have a container large enough to hold both the seaweed and a fair amount of sea water.

Also important are several round medium-sized stones, or sometimes cannon balls, which are heated in the fire and used to re-radiate heat during the cooking process.  Lastly, like most other methods of steaming, a cover is necessary to allow the trapped heat and steam to thoroughly cook the food. Canvas tarps or potato sacks soaked in sea water are often used for this purpose.
Once the stones and seaweed have been collected, a fire pit is prepared. Some prefer to simply start a fire within the pit, while others line the edges with flat stones to provide support for a metal grill on which the stones may be placed.  The stones used for cooking are then placed in the center of the pit and a wood fire is started, although the exact method of heating the stones varies. The fire must burn until the stones are glowing hot. Care must be taken to ensure that the fire will burn out shortly after this optimal cooking temperature is achieved. The ashes are then swept off the stones and raked between them to form an insulating "bed". A layer of wet seaweed is placed over the stones, followed by traditional regional foods such as steamer clams, mussels, quahogs, and lobsters. Side dishes usually include potatoes, corn on the cob, linguiça sausages, carrots, and onions. Alternating layers of seaweed and food are piled on top and the entire mound is covered with canvas that has been drenched in sea water to seal in the heat and prevent the canvas from burning. (Some may prefer to use beer to soak the canvas, but it is unlikely to have any effect whatever on the cooked food.) The food is allowed to steam for several hours.
For every two persons attending, the bake consists of:  two and a half pound of live lobsters.  Two pouonds of wild clams, one pound of Prince Edward Island blue mussels.  One half dozen Bay Oyster and one quart of fresh clam chowder.  Everything else is icing on the cake.
The New England Lobster Bakes are now 15% of at Lobster.com
Do yourself and your family and friends and get on over to Lobster.com and share in this time honored tradition. 

Share with us your favorite clambake story.  Happy Baking.



Posted By O. Cavanaugh