Savoring the Olde Ways

Once again, the month sprang on me when I was out of town, and now it’s a race to catch up. But my excuse is that I was out doing ‘due diligence’ for you, my faithful readers, on culinary travel. But this won’t appear as such when you hear my itinerary.  

You see, my husband and I were on a mad scamper to New England, mainly in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with a few lovely days in Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. It had been five years since we had returned to my husband’s stomping grounds—before Covid and meniscus travails—so this trip centered around the New Bedford, MA and Tiverton, R.I. areas. You see, we were there mainly to visit family and check on our R.I. house.

Sunset over Tiverton - looking toward Newport, R.I.

In addition, my husband’s goals were to visit a number of workshops, museums and businesses that embodied his love of wooden boats, especially the East Coast Beetle Cat of which he is a proud owner of one of the few on the West Coast. These treks, as you can imagine, included visits to Mystic Seaport with a bit of a sail, Newport’s Sailing Museum, the Herreshoff Museum in Bristol, the whaling museum in Nantucket, a catboat sailing adventure for two off Jetties Beach in Nantucket, and the Nautical Museum in Martha’s Vineyard. Plus, a most impressive visit to the only makers of the Beetle Cat boats in Wareham, MA with Bill Womack. (This was the highlight of my husband’s trip. You see, my husband’s family history includes whaleship-building, but he has been the sole member of the family to embrace all wooden boats and their history with fervor.)

Sailing a Beetle Cat at Mystic Seaport, CT

I, on the other hand, went along because (1) I love my husband; (2) I enjoy learning the history of these boats and of the whaling folklore, and (3) these venues were right by or near the water. So, what do you think this meant to me? Why, seafood! Scads and scads of seafood! Yup, we downed fresh oysters from Wellfleet and P.E.I., plus steamed littlenecks, steamers, and cherrystone clams! We enjoyed mussels over pasta made with friends, Sandy and Jim Turner, in Martha’s Vineyard and sampled the best of the quahogs (large clams) in chowders and stuffed (called ‘Stuffies’) and baked in the shell with plenty of the Portuguese linguica or chourico (pronounced ‘cerise’) in Rhode Island. We even indulged in sea scallops and swordfish and more fried whole bully clams in Nantucket. We were back, baby! This gal from Nebraska was in her element! Flavor! Sea Food! And with the people who prepared them!

We ventured out to the annual Lobster Festival in Mattapoisett and rolled out of a clambake in Nantucket completely satiated. And, because lobster was on the menu almost everywhere, lobster rolls were a specialty to try, as each one was different from the last. Say, have you ever tried fried clams? Well, the superior dish is fried whole-belly clams with fries. Absolutely scrumptious! And have you heard of Chow Mein Sandwiches from Fall River? Yes, it’s a thing!

Plus, the chowders alone could fill a page, as many were cream based with linguiça, or bacon. Plus, the Rhode Island chowdas’ were made with clear clam broth then chocked full of quahog clams, onions and potatoes. (No! No red or Manhattan chowders allowed!)

So, why am I going on and on about what we ate? Because it reminds me of what is always most important to me, and that is sitting in friends’ kitchens, while they cooked storms for us, catching up with family over ‘homemade’ meals. Because it’s all about the importance of connection which normally happens over food.

So, this brings me back to one of my old memories of sitting at the table in Mazelle’s kitchen, my husband’s R.I. godmother. She painstakingly taught me how to (1) cook a live lobster (2) eat a cooked lobster correctly (3) how to hunt for quahogs down on the beach behind our house in R.I. (4) how to make quahog chowda’ and most importantly (5) how to prepare a Rhode Island Clam Boil. (Note: It doesn’t always contain lobster and it isn’t the same as a clam bake!) (Also, did you know that I own a large lobster pot on the West Coast and am not afraid to use it?)

So, no, I’m not an artist, but this is the way I was able to remember the order of things. Now, this layering is not always the same the world around, but is set up for the people coming to dinner, whether you are in Rhode Island or Massachusetts. Do they love lobster? Do they hate fish? Would they prefer hot dogs instead of Portuguese linguica sausages? Whatever, the timing is based on what is placed in the pot with potatoes taking the longest. Then you pack the rest on as the steam from the base cooks each additional layer.

Then when the food is cooked (Mazelle swore that when the whole onion on the top was cooked, all was ready), parcel out the ingredients on individual plates with little cups of hot clam broth for dipping and rinsing the ‘steamers’, plus have melted butter, lemons, and salt and pepper on hand. You might need hot dog buns and condiments! Cripes! You’ll need a whole table for the extras! Have fun and enjoy the adventure!

Books Now Distributed by Simon & Schuster

I am pleased to announce my books, as of August 1, 2024, are now being distributed by Simon & Schuster and are available wherever books are sold and at your local public library.