The 401
FIRST PERSON
PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF AUNT CARRIE’ S; BROOKE HARRIS; COURTESY OF AUNT CARRIE’ S; ANGEL TUCKER; COURTESY OF IGGY’ S DOUGHBOYS & CHOWDER HOUSE( TWO PHOTOS); CONNIE AND TED’ S / ROBIEE ZIEGLER.
The Clam Cake: A Rhode Island Mystery
A specialty food so iconic, it can( mostly) only be found in one state.
F
OOD IS LIKE A TIME MACHINE. One bite can transport you to Christmas mornings at your aunt’ s house, beach days with your friends or that vacation you took in your twenties.
For me, that food is clam cakes. They’ re the crumbs that scatter from my early childhood straight to today. I have no memory of eating my first clam cake— they were just always there. On stormy days, my mom, dad, brother and I would bring clam cakes and chowder to Beavertail and watch the massive waves pummel the rocks, even in winter. As a teenager, my friends and I drove my beat-up, powder blue Chevy Celebrity down to Galilee to eat clam cakes and chowder on the jetty while watching the fishing boats glide in and out of the harbor.
Two weeks after my twenty-first birthday, I left to study abroad on Semester at Sea, my first time out of the country. We circumnavigated the globe, enduring weeks at sea, drinking swampy water from the ship’ s hold and having the time of our lives. But still, I fantasized about eating clam cakes and my mom’ s lasagna when I got home. I moved a lot over the years, and before my toes even crossed the border back into Rhode Island, I had already planned which day I’ d devote to clam cakes, chowder and doughboys.
I have family on Martha’ s Vineyard, so holidays and summers were a constant exchange of visitors between the island and the mainland. We always stayed with my Aunt Shirley, one of the warmest, funniest people I’ ve ever known. I miss her dearly. One of our favorite locations on the island was Aquinnah. One chilly, foggy day when I was ten, we were visiting those stunning cliffs when I had a craving for clam cakes and chowder. To my shock, my aunt informed me they didn’ t have them on the island. How could this be?! I was left
32 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I JULY 2026