The secret of cooking lobsters is to plunge them into a pot of furiously boiling sea water, and to keep the water in a condition of fast ebullition for just twenty minutes. Fresh water to which salt is added will not do so well. Salt water fresh from the ocean is indispensable. It brings out the correct flavor and imparts an indefinable zest to the lobster. Hard-shell crabs may be boiled in the same way, but ten minutes will be ample time.
All fresh vegetables are, in the opinion of the writer, improved in flavor by cooking them in sea water fresh from the ocean, not from a harbor contaminated by noxious influences from the shore. All vegetables should be immersed in boiling water and cooked till done. Potatoes will take about half an hour to boil, but cabbages, carrots and turnips much longer. I should not advise the cooking of the last-named three esculents aboard a small craft. Canned asparagus, French peas and string beans take little time to prepare and are excellent if a reliable brand is purchased. Open the can, drain off the liquid and throw it away. Wash the vegetables, strain the water off, place in a stew-pan with a lump of butter, and heat thoroughly. The liquid of canned vegetables is unfit for human food.
Hard clams or quahaugs are plentiful at any port during the boating season. The recuperative qualities of the small variety served ice-cold on the half shell with a dash of Tabasco sauce and no other seasoning are beyond praise. Now while the little clam is excellent eating just as soon as opened from the shell, taking care to waste none of his precious juices, his elder brother also has inestimable gastronomic values.
The easiest and simplest method of preparing clam broth is to scrub the clams well and wash them in several waters. Put them in an iron pot, without any water or liquid. Let them remain on the fire for twenty minutes. Then strain the juice, into which put a little fresh butter, a small quantity of milk, and a dash of red pepper. Drink while hot.
Fig. 5. A Traveling Companion.
Never add water to clam broth, and never let it boil after the milk is added, as it will curdle nine times out of ten.
To make clam soup, clean the clams as for broth. Place them in an iron pot on the stove. As soon as they open take them out of their shells and chop very fine. A hardwood bowl and a two-blade chopping knife are the best apparatus for this job. Strain the clam liquor, return to the pot, add minced onions to taste and the chopped clams; simmer gently for one hour, thicken to taste with cracker dust, season with sweet herbs and pepper; let boil fast for ten minutes, take off the stove and add some hot milk and a lump of fresh butter. Serve.
Clam chowder is an old sea dish whose popularity seems likely never to wane. It is a simple dish to prepare, although many cooks make a mystery of it. Cut half a pound of streaky salt pork into small cubes. Fry in an iron pot together with half a dozen medium-sized sliced onions until they are a light brown. Chop fifty hard-shell clams fine. Peel and slice thin a dozen large raw potatoes. Break up four sea biscuits and soak till soft in cold water or milk. Scald and peel and slice six ripe and juicy tomatoes. Put these ingredients into the pot in layers, pour over them the strained juice of the clams. Season with red and black pepper, sauces and herbs to taste. Cover an inch with hot fresh water and simmer for three hours. A pint of sound California claret added just before serving is an improvement. An old hen makes tip-top chowder cooked in the same fashion.
Fish chowder may be prepared in a similar way. Cod, haddock, sea bass and bluefish are good made into a chowder.