Clambake

Appears in

Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America

Published 2004

About

Generations of historians incorrectly record that the New England clambake is the survival of a native custom learned by the first English colonists. Archeological and historical evidence supports clam eating by Native Americans, but not by the newcomers, who identified them with “savagery.” Clams were a starvation ration to the Europeans, who used the abundant shellfish to feed pigs.

The clambake myth arose from the social and political changes brought about by American independence. The new nation needed an icon of its unique cultural identity, and an “ancient ritual” featuring indigenous food provided it. It is no accident that the popularity of the clambake exploded after the Civil War, when a new national myth was again created. Plymouth replaced Jamestown as the cradle of America, and the “New England” clambake became an American institution.

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