Rocky Point Amusement Park
Warwick, Rhode Island

Recipes

In the 1920s and 1930s, there was a large and very popular amusement park located on Narragansett Bay in Warwick, Rhode Island. The chief attraction of the park, called "Rocky Point Amusement Park" was a huge shore dinner hall which could seat over 1000 diners at a time. The hall was built right on the Bay and was advertised as the largest shore dinner hall in the world.

The main item on the menu was Rocky Point Clam Chowder which was prepared according to the shore dinner hall's owner's well kept secret recipe. The diners were seated at both sides of very long tables as they arrived, usually in groups (there was no preferential seating) and the hot chowder was brought in in large metal pots and placed on the tables about six feet apart...about 50 pots to each table. The showdown was served with hot clam cakes, sweet corn and watermelon. (all you could eat) chowder Beer and soft drinks were available for purchase nearby.

Unfortunately, the shore dinner hall and the rest of the amusement park were totally destroyed in the hurricane of September 1938. No attempt was made to rebuild the park and the shore dinner hall until after World War II and it reopened for business in 1946. Tragedy struck again when the new park and shore dinner hall were destroyed by another hurricane in 1954. Again the amusement park and shore dinner hall were rebuilt. However, the park and the shore dinner hall were closed down for good a few years ago and they are now just a memory.

I can't recall just how I obtained the recipe for Rocky Point Clam Chowder, but here it is anyhow:

1/2 pound ground or finely diced salt pork
1 pound onions
1 gallon clam juice
1 pound potatoes, diced
1 tablespoon paprika
2 cups canned tomato puree
1 1/2 quarts chopped quahogs (large clams)
water as needed
salt and pepper to taste
Pilot crackers, crumbled

In a large dutch oven, heat the salt pork until the fat melts. Add the onions. Cook ocher gentle heat until very soft. Add the clam juice, potatoes, seasonings, tomato puree and a little water. Simmer until the potatoes are soft, then add the quahogs. Heat and taste for seasoning. Add water if needed. It is best to use old, not new, potatoes, because they thicken the chowder with their starch. Crush some pilot crackers and stir them into the chowder to thicken it further, near the end of the cooking. This recipe makes about 20 8oz servings. Happy Eating.

Subject: Rocky Point Clam Cakes (I was told this recipe is NOT good!  I am including another one.  You can be the judge.)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 1998 16:43:49 EDT
From: BJF74@aol.com

Since you posted the recipe for Rocky Point Clam Chowder which I recently submitted, I have received several requests for my recipe for clam cakes. Unfortunately, I do not have the Rocky Point recipe for clam cakes. However, I obtained the following clam cake recipe from the book "Clam Shack Cookery" by Phil Schwind.

3 cups ground quahogs (chowder clams)
3 cups corn meal (preferably white)
1 cup all purpose flour
6 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup or more of quahog juice

Mix corn meal, flour and baking powder. Beat eggs separately and add milk to it. Combine milk, eggs and quahogs to dry ingredients and stir, adding enough quahog juice to make a smooth, thick batter. Fry the batter by a gravy-sized spoonful in deep fat at 360 degrees until well browned. Drain on a brown paper bag or paper towel. Serve hot with the hot chowder. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

RECIPE 2 - From B. Jason Ouellette

DRY STUFF:
2 1/2 cups All-Purpose flour (the gluten will add to the chewy texture).
2 teaspoons baking powder (Rumford's is my choice - plus the lid is made for leveling... way cool).
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (1 teaspoon if table salt)
OPTIONAL: I know it's not in the original recipe, but if you'd like them with a little more, I dunno... Oomph, a few shakes of Old Bay is really nice.

WET STUFF:
1 chicken egg
6 oz. minced clams (I shouldn't have to tell you fresh quahogs would be best)
1/2 cup Clam Liquor
1/4 cup Milk (I use1%, but fat content isn't terribly important)

Your wet stuff should be cold. Cold batter fries up better. It's a relativity thing. Make sure everything is chilled before you start.

Sift the dry stuff into the wet stuff while mixing. The more mixing, the more gluten is formed, the chewier the cakes will be. I remember them being chewy, that's how I like 'em, so Mix away. When it seems like everything has come together in a big sticky mess, start frying.

You did remember to heat up some peanut oil to 360 degrees, right? No? Well, then you can put the batter, covered, in the fridge. It'll keep for up to 24 hours, if you need. In fact, if you chill the batter for an hour before you start, all the better for your batter.

Use a pair of wet spoons to scoop the batter (one to scoop, one to scrape the first) into the oil. Fry until Golden Brown and Delicious, and drain on a cooling rack. Season them with fine salt (pickling salt works great) as soon as they come out of the oil.

Eat.