My friend Kate knew just where to take us to dinner when we visited. The exterior of the Governor Francis Inn in Warwick, Rhode Island didn’t convey much. But when we stepped inside surrounded by wood paneling and golden lighting, I felt like I’d been here a hundred times before. A stone-clad gas fireplace in the corner added to the ambiance. We settled into a half-booth, upholstered in a vintage floral straight out of an 80s hotel room.
Most importantly, we achieved our quest for the day and ate some damn clam cakes.
Kate had informed me well before our visit that I needed to eat a clam cake, and so, as we spent a day meandering in Providence, we stopped by two different places. Our timing was off and both were closed.
But no matter: Clam cakes and chowder were on the menu for dinner. I expected something like a hush puppy but instead, I was greeted with a light and fluffy interior, more like a funnel cake with little bits of clam throughout.
I’ve thought of those clam cakes from time to time in the months since our vacation. Because here in Maryland, there’s nothing quite like them. And because of the wisdom of bringing your out-of-town friends not to some novel foodie destination, but to your mainstay; take them to the place you go to all the time.
Clam Cakes and Chowder at the Governor Francis Inn
But the book is more than recipes. A history of clam cakes traces them back further than I’d have expected – well into the 1800s. And the pancake-like clam cakes of Maryland and Virginia make an appearance, with a sideline into Mrs. Kitching and Smith Island Cake. The little town of Saxis Virginia is represented, and the Chincoteague Firemen’s Carnival. Up and down the shore, people have found ways to stretch the flavor of clams into cakes and fritters.
Wyman’s book also includes a guide to clam cake and fritter destinations. Next time I find myself in Rhode Island, I have even more options to look into. One could even take a bike tour of clam cake establishments, with a stop for ice cream.
I interviewed Wyman about the book, and I made the classic clam cake recipe found in the book.
Outside of the German peach cake, or the Indian chutney that made its way into Mrs. B.C. Howard’s recipe collection, non-English and African influences aren’t always obvious in the recipes I work from. A lot of cooking traditions were passed down orally in immigrant communities, or else handwritten recipe manuscripts of everyday citizens didn’t make their way into historical society collections and the like. The remaining option is to reference “old world” sources and attempt to fill in the gaps.
That’s why I was grateful to find “Italian American Favorite Recipes” in a thrift store – even if it was printed in 1982. This Baltimore community cookbook benefitted the “American Committee on Italian Migration,” or ACIM, an organization created in “response to the immigration crisis resulting from the social and economic chaos occurring in Italy after two world wars.” [1] Lobbying by ACIM facilitated “The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965” which abolished a quota system of immigrants by nation of origin. One book calls the act “The Law that Changed the Face of America.”[2]
Although Italian Immigration to Baltimore dates back to the mid-1800’s, ACIM found that many newcomers in the 1960s still needed assistance with relocation to the United States. A 2015 Baltimore Sun article on ACIM (now American Citizens for Italian Matters) describes some of the organizations more recent efforts such as the restoration of Italian works of art, university endowments, and contributions to women’s center My Sister’s Place.
The ACIM cookbook was compiled in 1982 by member Margaret Rose Mastellone. Margaret was an ideal force behind such a cookbook; she and her husband Andrea owned and operated the Mastellone Deli and Wine Shop on Harford Road.
The Mastellone’s were venerated authorities on Italian food, frequently quoted in the Baltimore Sun on topics from olive oil (1984) to tiramisu (1989).
“I love being with people. I’ve been raised in this business. And it’s not just people of Italian extraction, all kinds of people come [to Mastellone Deli and Wine Shop] to shop. We share in what they do, no matter what their background may be. Thank God for the people who are interested in our type of food. We want to share with them. We have something that’s special.” – Margaret Rose Mastellone, “Preserving a way of life by cooking Italian style”, Baltimore Sun 1982
Andrea passed away in 2010, and Margaret two years later. Andrea’s renowned taste and knowledge of wine was celebrated, and it was said that “Customers who venerated Italian cooking quickly made [their] store into something of a gastronomic shrine.”
Ever since I made shad roe ravioli in the spring, I caught a fancy for homemade pasta. After months of pining I got a pasta roller to call my own. I brought home some clams from Chincoteague – my favorite – and turned to the ACIM cookbook for ideas.
Lo and behold, this recipe for white clam sauce was contributed to the book by the Mastellone’s son Salvatore; “White Clam Sauce alla Salvatore Mastellone.”
It turned out amazing and I’ve been rolling out fresh pasta on the regular ever since.
In a 1982 article about the cookbook, Margaret Rose Mastellone specified that clam sauce should be served with linguini. Presumably, she passed that preference onto her son. However, my pasta cutter only does spaghetti or fettuccine so I chose the latter, rather than buy dried pasta. I like to think that the Mastellones would understand.
Recipe:
24 cherrystone clams
.25 Cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
.5 Cup chopped italian parsley
.125 Lb butter
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 Lb linguine or fettuccine
Clean clams and steam until open. Drain and mince clams; set aside. Brown garlic in oil; remove from oil and mash. Mix clams, parsley, butter, a pinch of pepper flakes, and mashed garlic. Boil pasta al dente. Add clam sauce and serve. “Have with a nice Italian white wine, chilled. Bon Appetito.”
Recipe adapted from “Italian American Favorite Recipes”
[1] The Italian American Experience: An Encyclopedia edited by Salvatore J. LaGumina, Frank J. Cavaioli, Salvatore Primeggia, Joseph A. Varacalli
[2] The Law that Changed the Face of America: The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 By Margaret Sands Orchowski
To further emphasize my status as an unqualified Maryland food appreciator, I will confess that of all the seafood offerings at crab houses, I’ve consumed “New England” clam chowder the most in my lifetime.
My love of crab came slowly (and I still haven’t caught the craze for oysters) but I will never turn down a cup of clam chowder.
I finally had the chance to visit Smith Island recently. On a beautiful day we took a ferry ride from Crisfield to the Ewell community. The ferry passed by bird-inhabited marshlands, abandoned fishing shacks, and osprey-crowned channel markers. Finally we pulled in through clusters of boats and crab pots, past a bakery advertising Smith Island’s famed eponymous cake, and disembarked to wander the island and provide a novel feast for isolated mosquitoes.
In many ways, Smith Island feels much like an Eastern Shore fishing
community in the summer. Waving at passing cars (or golf-carts as the case may be) is mandatory.
The air is infused with the soothing yet faintly fishy salty marsh
smell, plus heaps of humidity. Island cats either duck under porch steps
or glare back with indifference. Mosquitoes and biting flies descend eagerly.
It is the quietness that gives
indication at the isolation of Smith Island. This is a place that has
been losing population and land for decades, for environmental, economic
and cultural reasons. The tourism industry provides what is surely to some a reluctant alternative to the booming seafood industry that once supported nearly all of the families here.
After a day spent walking around Ewell, visiting the museum there, and viewing a short film about life on Smith Island, we went to the Bayside Inn Restaurant to have a soft crab and of course a slice of cake.
Pomegranates, Smith Island
On our way out, I inquired about where Mrs. Kitching’s Restaurant used to be. As it turns out, the building that housed it had burned down.
Frances E. Kitching closed her famous restaurant in 1987, and passed away in 2003, but her book, “Mrs. Kitching’s Smith Island Cookbook” can still be found everywhere in that region and her legacy and her cooking are very much a part of the tourism industry of Smith Island.
“[Mrs. Kitching] began preparing food in her home for linemen installing electricity in
the 1950s and ended up operating a world-famed boardinghouse where
guests and islanders ate Maryland tidewater cuisine.
Food critics from The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and
The Washington Post, along with writers from travel and food magazines,
beat a path to her table, but Mrs. Kitching remained unfazed by all the
fuss.
There in her old-fashioned dining room, they ate platters of
french-fried jimmy crabs, crab loaf, clam and oyster puffs, pan-browned
wild duck, baked rock fish with potatoes, stewed crab meat and
dumplings, corn fritters, broiled flounder, fried apples, broiled red
drumfish, pickled carrots, oysters and, of course, crispy fried crab
cakes…
Mrs. Kitching spent all but three years of her life on her native Smith
Island, 10 miles off Crisfield in the Chesapeake Bay, where she was born
Frances Evans.
[She] often puffed a cigarette before going to work in her
kitchen and never wore an apron. And she offered simple, straightforward
advice for the novice when sauteing soft crabs: Use a well-seasoned and
oiled cast-iron skillet.” – Baltimore Sun
“The best thing you can do to a crab is let it be,” according to Mrs. Kitching. And that tells me she is a cook after my own heart.
And so I decided to entrust Mrs. Kitching with these clams we picked up at the Chincoteague Farmers Market. I’m a big fan of Chincoteague clams (to hell with the oysters) but these are a little different.
These clams were farmed on Chincoteague. I proceeded with caution, knowing the high salinity of Chincoteage Bay clams. Usually, no additional salt is required when using clams and their liquor. When it’s Chincoteague Bay clams you may need to leave the liquor out altogether (or save it to use sparingly.) I used these clams and their liquor, adding no salt.
We paid a visit to the aquaculture farm. The role of shellfish farms like this is an interesting topic which we’ll have to explore further soon. This is the new food system and therefore a part of Maryland cuisine.
I liked this recipe and its light use of milk as opposed to cream. I did not feel the need to add extra salt. A dash of Maggi might have been nice. I had some greens and some corn so I chopped them up and added them. As a result, the chowder tasted strongly of corn.
“Why bother,” you may ask, “making these authentic recipes and adding random things to them?”
My answer is that there is nothing more authentic than using what you have.
Recipe:
24 clams
2 large onions or shallots
water for boiling potatoes
4 large potatoes
1 quart milk
1 Tablespoon butter
salt (optional)
black pepper
Before using any clams, discard clams that do not close their shells when tapped. Soak the clams in clean water, changing the water a few times, then place them in a plastic bag. Put the bag into the freezer for a few hours. Before use, thaw clams for about 30 minutes. This facilitates opening the clams. When the shells are open, slip a paring knife inside and cut the meat out and discard the shells. Chop up the clams finely reserving the juice. Dice the onions and add them to the clams. Boil the potatoes and mash thoroughly. Add the mashed potatoes to the clams and onions. Heat the quart of milk just short of boiling and add to the clams, onion and potatoes. Simmer in a soup pot and salt to taste. Just before serving add pepper to taste and stir in the butter. Serve piping hot.
Recipe adapted from “Mrs. Kitching’s Smith Island Cookbook”
