The Clambake and Childhood Memories
Sometimes I wish I had paid more attention to the details of my childhood as all that remains is foggy memories and fading comforts. But I have come to understand the meaning in all those fading memories I recall. It seems that your childhood memories are larger then life and they offer so much detail that returns me to Cleveland Ohio to my Grandpa and Grandma Paul’s home on State Road. It was a non describe two story 1900’s home with a hardware store next nestled next door. Concord grapes grew along side the house that made the best grape jelly and it had a swing in the backyard. Whenever we would go to Cleveland especially for Euclid Beach trips and Clambakes it always brought on a certain excitement.
The memories I have today were a culmination of all the events that took place in that house and the family that created the memories. To this day I can still picture the kitchen where there was a large heavy wooden kitchen table with a light hanging from the ceiling over the center of the table. In the evenings after the Clambake all the men in attendance would always sit around that kitchen table drinking beer and smoking cigars as the smoke filled the room. My Grandpa Paul always had a cigar and would hold court with all the son-in-laws in the kitchen. It seemed to be a tradition. That smoke filled room was always a vivid memory and every time I smell a cigar I return that house on State Road. It was an tradition that took place in that kitchen and why it commands a full section on this website.
A clambake in popular culture is a reference to a social gather and we mostly think about it in as taking place in the New England area. But it seem the Northeast Ohio and Cleveland area crated it own version that was adopted into many families. To me I capture and feel a clambake on many different levels because it is about nourishment of the soul. The clambake is as much about the moment and the occasion as about the taste. I sincerely share this sediment because I do not want this tradition to be lost. Maybe whoever reads this will create that own clambake tradition as the meaning is much greater then the meal.
“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.”
Oscar Wilde
The Cleveland Ohio Clambake
Autumn in Cleveland is marked by three things: the Browns losing, summer fading to fall with crisp weather, and the return of clambakes. How did it begin and in Cleveland? Pinpointing the exact moment when Cleveland clambakes became a “THING” is tough. Back in the day seafood traveled by rail on trains and originated in New York City and moved westward to the great lakes where it required icing at many stops. That is the main route clams and oysters arrived and were sold in Cleveland. The price was inflated and so many elite families purchased the seafood at there summer homes in Lake County and threw parties on Little Mountain. And as distribution and cost equalized the concept of the clambake took hold on the Cleveland area. References to these types of events pop up in the Plain Dealer archives going back to the 1860s. On October 15th, 1866, an article titled "Great Clam Bake at Camp Gilbert talked of the tradition and the genuine art of the preparation. And the verdict of the day ended with the "firm opinion that clam bakes were glorious institutions." By most accounts in 1904, a chef Comella opened a market at E. 185th St in Euclid, OH, under the name Chef Comella’s Fish and Clambake Company. (This eventually evolved into the Euclid Fish Company.) For the chef, clambakes were a family affair and he managed to put them on the map. In the coming decades, clambake references continued to appear regularly, both in the society pages and event listings. They became favorites of local companies picnics and political figures as fund raising events. For those of you in the Cleveland area you can rent the clambake pans and get your clams at the Euclid Fish Company still today.
Clambake The Recipe
You will need a good steamer pot with a spigot to prepare the clams. The cost is from $50 to $100 dollars. The pots are great for lobster and crab legs. The clambake begins by purchasing littleneck clams and about 100 and all the clams need to be scrubed and washed at least three times to remove the grit and sand. That step is important and should not be overlooked. This will feed a lot of people so subtract to fit your own situation.
Chicken Breast halves with skin (12-16)
Cherrystone Clams 75 to 100
Yams 6-8 halved
Celery with leaves
I onion
1 clove garlic
I large tomato
1-2 pounds butter
Salt and pepper
Paprika
Bay Leaf
Chicken seasoning
Corn 2 dozen ears 5-6 in the bake.
In the bottom pan add water to just above the spigot, add the bay leaf and bring to a boil. Middle pan should be fill in this order. Add the corn to the bottom, potatoes, then the chicken adding the , onion, tomato, garlic celery and butter. In the top pan add the clams with celery and 2 yams. Reduce the heat to medium and cook from about 1and 1/2 to 2 hours occasionally drawing out the broth and pouring back into the top pan. Remove the clams, potatoes and chicken and prepare melted butter to dip on the clams. The chicken should be fried in a pan season with the paprika and chicken seasoning. Serve with corn with butter and slice the potatoes in quarters and pan fry in butter. The broth is a very good drink to enjoy with the dinner and is great for the next day.
It is also permissible to add and substitute as desired. White potatoes for the yams and you can add a good smoked sausage to the bake about 30 minutes before the bake is done. The addition of shrimp or scallops just prior to the bake being completed and lightly frying the shrimp or scallops in a pan with butter and Old Bay seasoning would add a great addition to the meal.
