FOOD NEWS
Rhode Island’s Clam Stuffies Feature Giant Quahogs
BY LISA CURRAN MATTE
In Rhode Island, a baked clam is called a stuffie. This beloved dish consists of large clamshells overstuffed with minced clam meat, sausage, bread crumbs, and aromatics.
The only clam to use for stuffies is the quahog, the largest clam variety that measures around 4-plus inches. Quahogs happen to be abundant along the shores of Rhode Island.
Quahogs thrive in salt-water shallows close to the shore, where they burrow up to 6 inches deep in the sand. Pick up a clamming license and you'll be able to dig them out yourself.
Stuffies have a long history. Rhose Island settlers learned how to harvest and cook clams from Native American peoples, and Portuguese immigrants also influenced the dish.
These immigrants of the 19th and 20th centuries made stuffies what they are today with the addition of Portuguese sausage. No other clam dish is more renowned in Rhode Island.