Health - Family - Food

If you like seafood, you'd definitely enjoy an opportunity to taste the traditionally-prepared goodies at a New England clam bake. Lobster meat, mussels, crabs, and clams are steamed in a specially-dug pit in the sand along the New England coast. After placing smooth stones and wet seaweed in the bottom of the pit, the fresh seafood is cooked as part of a holiday celebration.

Wood is lit on fire, arranged on a group of rocks, and allowed to burn until it becomes ash. These ashes are cast aside, whereupon the heated rocks actually cook the food. It's important to ensure that the fire burns out quickly---preferably after the desired temperature has been achieved. Thuen, the stones are swept clean of ashes, and arranged so that the bottom is insulated.

From the shoreline, seaweeds are collected and piled against the rocks. Then potatoes, onions, lobsters, clams, and even corn (in their husks) are placed onto the pit. At this point, a layer of seaweed blankets a canvas (dampened by ocean water) in order to contain the heat. Then, the whole meal is steamed for many hours, thus converting the food into a scrumptious meal.

It takes an entire day to prepare and cook a traditional New England clambake. Some people love to do it themselves. Other prefer to hire a caterer to do the work. Sometimes the feast is baked in a large pot. This is often necessary in places where fires are not allowed on the beach.

A New England Clam Boil is one of the many variations of the New England clambake. The clambake is an older version in which food is cooked in a sand pit lined with rocks. It is prevalent in New England and has been around long before the English empire came to America.

Lobster clambakes may be prepared in your own yard using a metal can, or in your kitchen with the use of a steamer""that is, unless you hire a caterer to cook the meal in a special cooking vessel. Another option is to just purchase an already prepared clambake from a store.