cover image Seashore Entertaining

Seashore Entertaining

Naomi Black. First Glance Books, $22.5 (144pp) ISBN 978-0-89471-506-8

Although her book opens somewhat tritely with a reference to Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Black (The East Coast Bed and Breakfast Book knows her seafood and dispenses here much useful information about the briny food source in its many delightful manifestations. Unfortunately, the book is uneven. For example, illustrations demonstrate various methods for killing crabs, but directions for assembling a down-east clambake are lacking. Readers are instructed to dig a deep pit, make a bonfire, leaving the hot stones in the pit after the wood has burned, and fill the pit with clams, sausage, sweet and new potatoes, onions, corn and lobster, covering all with a seawater-soaked tarp. There are directions for setting the outdoor table but not even a hint on cooking time or how one goes about dismantling and serving the clambake; the accompanying glossy color photographs depict tableware and decorations but not procedures. (August 11)