Great Food Finds Cape Cod: Delicious Food from the Region’s Top Eateries

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is a 70-mile peninsula divided into 15 towns. It is one of the easternmost points of land in the U.S., with its hooked arm jutting out 40 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. Some of the towns date back to the 1600s, and each has its own unique personality, history, and gastronomic adventure.

I’m a local, having been born in Sagamore, the first town you encounter after you cross the Cape Cod Canal over the aptly named Sagamore Bridge. I started my journey for this book here, in the area I know so very well. I grew up in an Italian family in an Italian neighborhood. Food was, and still is, a big part of my DNA. The memories of my childhood are full of what we now call organic, local, and living off the land. It was a way of life. All the neighbors, including my grandparents, had vegetable and flower gardens, chickens, grape arbors for making homemade wine, and some even had pigs in their backyards. The huge resurgence and interest in organic and local farming in many parts of our country has reached the Cape, and chefs are connecting with farmers and growers and using many of their products. It’s more of a challenge here because the growing season is short, but many of the Cape’s chefs are creating foods that more than meet that challenge. In the past several years, I’ve observed how the Cape’s culinary landscape has changed. There are still the delicious fried clams, fresh broiled or grilled fish, and lobster rolls that have always been favorites, but many of today’s chefs are reinventing these traditional favorites with a slightly different twist. It’s my hope that this book will give readers, locals, and visitors a new perspective on what the Cape has to offer for a culinary experience. Each town has its own history and a unique food to experience.

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“Filled with stories to warm your heart and recipes to warm your belly, Great Italian American Food in New England is something more besides. By chronicling the history of this six-state community at table, it makes a fine contribution to our appreciation of eating as identity, culture, and heritage.”

— Cara de Silva, author of In Memory’s Kitchen: A Legacy from the Women of Terezin