Roll Out a Barrel of Hay

So many vintage cookbook authors believed deeply in industrialized food. To cooks of the thirties and forties, the promise of convenience products was extremely beguiling.  It made for some good recipe writing. See here and in the extreme, here.

Which is why this recipe for a classic clambake from  Ruth Berolzheimer's United States Regional Cook Book, (published in 1949),  is so appealing. There are no corners cut here; this will take all day. And before you begin, make sure you have a wheelbarrow of seaweed or hay on hand. (Not to mention an army of small children.)

One more thing: these real salt codfish recipes. When's the last time you found dried salt cod in a New Englander's larder?