The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1888-08-16
FUN AT NANTAsKBT BEACH.
A Clam Bake or Short Dlnner--How the
Succulent Bivalves are Prepared to
Tickle the Palate of the Epicure.

A Clam Bake or Short Dlnner-How the
Succulent Bivalves are Prepared to
Tickle the Palate of the Bpicure.
NANTAsKET BEACH, Aug. II, 1883.
ED. NEws-DEMOCRAT:-As some of
your readers may not have had the
pleasure of participating in II Of
these sea shore publications., | will give
a description of one that | had the
pleasure of attending.
Fresh clans! What visions of sea
side visits present themselves to the
mind? Visions of men wading knee
deep in the water, with an old basket,
after the toothsome d~elicacles, to tickle
the palate of lovers of shell fish.
Thirty or forty years ago clans could
be had for u cents a peck, while now
the demand has brought up the price to
thirty, but as the old saying is "They
come high, but we must have EN-
People who live away from the sea.
shore can form no idea Of the interest
taken in one of these unique affairs.
When an aspirant to political honors
wishes to do the correct thing by his
friends he entertains them with a clam
bake.
Family reunions take this form to
pass away the time and talk of things
long past, as they inhale the fragrance
arising from the steaming ovens.
Besides the CLANS the usual accom-
paniments are sweet potatoes, green
corn stuAing, Boston brown bread,
baked fish, Holsters, sc.
Melted butter is used to flavor the
clans. Now take one in your fingers
GWhich were made before forks') and
dip it into the butter, and bite off about
two-thirds of the meat and deposit the
remainder in a dish, which is soon full
to overlooking, and removed to make
room for another, which is served like
wise.
A pig is considered a dull animal
but it goes claiming all the same, and
seemingly takes great delight in the
pastime, but strange as it may seem,
devours shell and all.
1t is apparent that something besides
an ostrich has a hard shell stomach, and
it knows when the tide is out as well as
any person does.
A greeney invariably causes a laugh
when he starts in to get away with
CLANS. The writer can testify to the
truth of the assertion, and he cOnse-
quently feels somewhat chagrined when
some kind lady perhaps kindly %protfered
her assistance to instruct him in the
peculiar branch, shall | say.
A clam is not at all like a humble
bee, but one would think so to witness
the way a stranger to them manipulates
or handles them. 1t is a dead give
away to ask for a hook and line when
about to go claiming, or to take a cord
with cross stick to string them on.
There are some handled that way, but
not CLAIMS, strictly speaking.
But I must not forget to tell or de-
scribe the process by which they are
prepared.
The better way is to build an owe
with stones, and gather plenty of sea-
weed or rockwell (either is welD and
cover the oven, after the CLAIMS are de-
posted in it, which will give a flavor to
the repast.
Persons of both sexes, off with their
shoes and stockings, and go wading
around. The fair sex gather them to-
gether after the sterner sex have dug
them up. After being cooked, potato
dressing is the usual accompaniment
also, and whatever else suits the taste.
After the invitation is given to pitch
in, the party all gather around the
capacious oven and each try to Guido
the other in filling the dishes provided
for the shells.
1t is not an uncommon sight to
build a bake $50 called) IL feet square,
which will hold nearly 100 bushels of
CLAIMS and hxings.
In preparing the bake, some empty
the baskets, while others rake them into
a heap. They are soon lost to sight by
the smoke and steam. A large cloth is
thrown over them to keep the flavor in,
so they say, and if one is inclined to
perspire, he will do so very freely as he
leans over to get a Whit of the steam
ing fragrance. If a visitor a few mo.
ments before remarked that he vas not
hungry, he almost, as if by magic, sud
denly feels that his stomach vas in ex-
cellent condition for replenishing.
1t the bake is held in a grove, a per-
son who has been there before always
selects q shady place and freezes TO IL,