We come, you see, from Cape Cod, our families going back to the first English settlers of the 1600s. And it was not always the resort area it is now. Far from it, the Cape was a harsh place to live, either a hardscrabble life on shore or going to sea for your livelihood.

Frugality, Yankee thrift, was and is a virtue in the old families, making your own or making do. At the same time, commonplace foods could be used to make some fine, tasty meals using few fancy ingredients but made with considerable skill. Both ashore and at sea, Cape Cod folks ate pretty well.

Influences, ingredients, herbs and spices were brought back from the seven seas and the far corners of the globe by the men ( and most definitely women ) who went to sea. Home-grown items from the gardens, the woods and the waters all came together to make some mighty fine eating. And the people who first lived here were joined by others who brought their own ways of cooking, which made fine additions.

Here follow some of those recipes, as we have found them in our family recipe cards and books handed down to us and as we have learned them from others, from line cooks to sea cooks to those who are simply good cooks. Amounts and ingredients are not all that specific, and you’re welcome to try variations. When modern methods are available, by all means use them.

We hope you’ll enjoy them.

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