The clambake or clam bake, also known as the New England clambake, is a traditional method of cooking seafood, such as lobster, mussels, crabs, soft-shell clams, and quahogs. The food is traditionally cooked by steaming the ingredients over layers of seaweed in a pit oven.

Why is it called a clam bake?

Thanks to the seawater and seaweed, the food has a smoky, briny flavor. The term clambake is shorthand, too, for cooking a hodgepodge of assorted delicacies including lobsters, steamer clams, crabs, mussels and quahogs, in addition to sides like corn and potatoes.

Why are clambakes in the fall?

Take advantage of fall seafood.

On any coast, corn really comes into season in the fall, so that peak flavor will add to your clambake. Oysters, mussels, and clams are all actually better in fall, although people typically think to eat them in summer."