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The New England clambake is a great method of cooking foods, fresh seafood such as lobster, mussels, crabs, clams, and quahogs. The seafood is often supplemented by sausages, potatoes, onions, carrots, corn-on-the-cob, etc. A New England Clambake is usually held on festive occasions along the coast of New England.

A typical New England Clambake recipe begins with gathering seaweed 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.

In conclusion, as is the case with any situation where you are using steam to prepare food, you will need to enclose everything under a covering of some sort. This allows the energy to spread evenly, and thoroughly cook everything under the cover. In many cases, as tarp or several potato sacks doused in ocean water are used. This is because such surfaces are good at keeping heat within, yet letting air through.

Steaming lets all the flavors from the ingredients emerge and blend slowly so that a harmony of flavors it's achieved. All while not over cooking the ingredients, something very important when cooking mollusks since they tend to vary on cooking times. Usually fish takes much less time to cook than squid, and shrimp takes less time than fish, by using the steaming method, one is allowed to cook all kinds of ingredients with much less opportunity to overcook others.

For a truly great clambake, you must have the freshest seafood. A New England Clambake and a Cape Cod Clambake are very similar. Both include basically the same ingredients. The Cape Cod Clambake is cooked in the same fashion as the New England, too.

Many people will attest that a clambake is one of the greatest culinary experiences that one may have. There are so many great foods and cuisines that one can argue endlessly about which is the absolute greatest. However, there's no disputing that a clambake is perfect for any true lover of seafood.

The classic recipe for a New England Clambake starts with gathering seaweed along the shore; it is a vital ingredient for helping to prepare the food. You will also need several round stones, medium in size, to be heated in the pit. Stones, or often cannon balls, are used to absorb and radiate heat in the cooking process. To make the clambake worthwhile, it is desirable to use fresh seafood. Both clambakes use very similar ingredients and the methods used for preparing the Cape Cod Clambake are the same as those used to prepare that made in New England.