Multimedia: A Clambake Deconstructed

"It's a unique New England experience," Sara Livingston Oliveira, co-owner of Compton Clambakes said of the allure of a clambake.

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Mrs. Oliveira and her husband, Jason, the bakemaster, have been officially in the clambake business for 12 years. "People get a charge, get a kick, out of the whole process of clambaking." Mrs. Oliveira said.

A traditional clambake consists of New England staples such as lobster, shellfish, corn-on-the-cob, brown bread, potatoes and onions. Hotdogs and breakfast sausage are also thrown into the mix. They may seem like less-desirable side dishes when tail meat and littlenecks are to be had, but hard-core clambake lovers know what to expect and want the full package. Mrs. Oliveira recalled a time when one elderly customer made a big fuss when she didn't get her hotdog.

For bakemaster Jason Oliveira, his clambake errands begin the day before, when he collects fresh rockweed along the banks of the Sakonnet River. If you ask Mr. Oliveira where he plucks his rockweed, you won’t get a straight answer; his haven is a secret he's not willing to reveal. It’s a tranquil scene at low tide - Mr. Oliveira hunched over, knee-deep in the river surrounded by clumps of the slimy sea vegetation.

"It's peaceful," he said, knowing full well that these solitary moments are just the calm before a storm of preparations for the bake.

He and most other serious bakers will tell you that it's all in the seaweed and freshness is key. Bristol bakemaster Herb Deveau also picks his rockweed fresh and offers similar advice as Mr. Oliveira: "If you don't have the bubble, you're not going to have a bake."

Both bakemasters explain that rockweed with pockets of saltwater bursting from the seams is the kind to pick because the extra moisture helps create more steam.

After gathering hundreds of pounds of rockweed, Mr. Oliveira is one step closer to the bake. "The day of the clambake is a busy day. You've got to embrace the madness." he said.

After a morning of gathering and transporting bundles of wood, stones and the many ingredients, Mr. Oliveira and a couple of his employees build and light a bonfire over the stones for about an hour and 45 minutes. Simultaneously, Mrs. Oliveira and her team are setting up tents and cooking materials, conducting food prep and creating a pleasant dining atmosphere.

After the stones are scorching hot, Mr. Oliveira and his associates take the stones out of fire pit and place them into an aluminum box. The Compton Clambakers lovingly refer to this box as the “panela,” the Portuguese word for pan. The box functions as a steamer and is filled with rockweed and racks of food. This part of the process is called the "rake out" and takes about 15 minutes. The "panela" is then draped with three tarps and left alone to steam for an hour and a half before Mr. Oliveira rings the cow bell to alert the diners that the clambake is ready to be unveiled and served.

Styles and motivations

Mr. Deveau got into clambakes and boils at the request of his wife. He and his family are well known in the Bristol community for the annual fund-raiser clambake they host in their backyard. "I don’t like to call it a business. It’s just something I do for people," he said.

While Compton Clambakes may be an official business, it also has a family feel. "It really is a team, family operation, and I think that's what makes it work, doing it together," Mrs. Oliveira said.

The basic ingredients of a bake should remain fairly consistent, but you’ll find that different families and companies have different styles. Mr. Oliveira emulates the clambake style of the late Charlie Albert of Little Compton and is inspired by Portuguese flavors and ingredients. Mr. Oliveira said he's seen many different variations to the clambake menu, with some folks adding tripe, eggs, chicken, crabs or kielbasa, just to name at few.

With all of the blood, sweat and tears that go into such a process-oriented method of cooking, one may wonder: Why go to all the trouble?

"You get out what your put in. You got to put the time and effort into it." Mr. Oliveira said.

His other matter-of-fact motivator is that he simply likes parties. "I grew up going to clambakes and doing it with my uncles. It's the best of what New England has to offer. Having a clambake is king," he said.

"You get to watch people get together and have a lot of fun and that's why I do it." Bristol bakemaster Herb Deveau said. "It makes me feel really good."

The history and folklore

While the certainties of clambake history are largely unknown since the tradition began so long ago, many believe the it originates with Native Americans, who dug pits and built fires on the beach. The culinary pastime was passed down to early settlers and has been evolving ever since.

Mr. Oliveira was able to recall some Little Compton-specific clambake history. Back in the 1940s, there weren't any restaurants in the town. So on the weekends, townspeople would get together for a clambake at Bixby's Farm off of Long Highway. Also, he said, decades ago steamships and cruise lines carrying hungry tourists would to stop off at Sakonnet Point for a clambake or a "Rhode Island Shore Dinner" as they called it.

Can't be afraid of work

Clambaking may seem like a complicated, painstaking process to some. But if you love New England flavors, you may want to take a crack at it. Mr. Oliveira and Mr. Deveau shared some words of wisdom to any wide-eyed bakers out there.

"Practice small first and then venture out into the big leagues," said Mr. Oliveira.

"Don't be afraid of work. Get everything ready ahead of time. You learn as you go," said Mr. Deveau, whose bakes are done out of a spirit of benevolence. "You've got to do things for people in this world."