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Clambake Can Be as Good
on a City Terrace as at the Beach |
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The urban clambake is an increasingly
popular way to entertain at home. Jim Sanford has
specialized in city clambakes for years. The traditional
beach clambake involves steaming clams, lobsters,
chicken, potatoes, onions, corn and sausage over
seaweed in pits dug in the sand and lined with rocks
that have heated in driftwood fires. Tarpaulins
cover the bake to keep the heat from escaping. While
some still do their clambakes the old fashioned
way, shortcuts
that eliminate the need for a
crew of volunteers to gather driftwood and seaweed
and dig pits on the beach at dawn have been gaining
favor. As long as the
food is steamed together in genuine rockweed, the
authentic flavor is preserved. Jim Sanford's buffet-style
clambake starts with clams steamed in rockweed.
Mr. Sanford uses only steamers from Maine, serving
them with clam broth and butter. Next come lobsters,
onions, potatoes, chicken, fresh corn on the cob
(picked that morning at a nearby farm whenever possible)
and a moderately spicy Portuguese sausage called
linguica that adds flavor to the chicken. Mr. Sanford
also provides paperware for serving, as well as
wooden mushroom baskets for shells, lobster bibs
and metal nutcrackers. For his catered clambakes,
a minimum of 40 people is required. He will go anywhere
in the New York area, but must be able to do the
cooking outdoors: while he can arrange a clambake
on a week's notice, summer weekends are usually
booked further ahead than that. He can be reached
at 914-420-7467. |
Let's have a real nice clambake
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Clambakes in the City?" Jim
Sanford has believed all along. The New England
clambake is a seaside spectacle that he is introducing
to New York. It's an idea that's older than New
England," he said, "but to my knowledge, this is
the first time anyone has brought it into the city." I
first started doing clambakes on Martha's Vineyard," he
said. "I've always been in the food business (as
a saucier at The Four Seasons, and as a cook at
Copenhagen, La Caravelle and The Plaza), so it was
easy for me to organize a kitchen outside. I've
been doing them there for ten years now," he grinned, so
I guess I'm ready for New York." Doing a clambake
Sanford style means the party giver supplies the
space. Jim Sanford supplies the rest. He comes with
the bake-the steamer trays and 20 gallon clam
steamer-the edibles and all the cooking and serving
ingredients down to the lobster bibs, heavy-duty
paper plates, and rockweed. At the end of the clambake,
a kind of mellow satiety settled in on the crowd.
According to Jim, this was a normal
reaction. "As long as you've got
a good group of people, the clambake takes off on
it's own. Jim Sanford can be contacted by phone at
914-420-7467. He can be hired for backyards, terraces,
patios, rooftops, clubs, parks or, of course, the
beach. The per person cost, based on a minimum of
40 people includes soft-shelled clams, clam broth,
a 1 1/4 lb. Lobster, corn on the cob, onions, potatoes,
chicken and barbeque sauce, linguica, pots of melted
butter, watermelon and coffee. The price also includes
the buffet serving tables, all plates, utensils, and
napkins. |
Reprint from
the Westchester Gannette Newspapers |
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