Crossword Genius

Cooking on the beach, boy's first to follow American into cold sea? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

clambake

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'follow american into cold sea?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'cooking on the beach boy's first' is the wordplay.
'cooking' becomes 'bake' (bake is a kind of cooking).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the beach boy's first' becomes 'clam' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'bake' put after 'clam' is 'CLAMBAKE'.

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for clambake that I've seen before include "Fishy equivalent of barbecue" , "Picnic over the pond" , "eating by the sea" , "Outdoor seafood party (US)" , "Outdoor gathering to eat seafood (US)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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