fall in Cleveland is marked by three thing : the Browns losing and Buckeyes winning , crisp weather condition , and the return of clambakes . Despite the fact that the city rests at the foot of the shore of anotoriously pollutedfreshwater body of water , the seafood - centrical feast is a fall raw material .
Of course , a Cleveland clambake is unequaled and discrete in both process and composition from those have got elsewhere . Instead of being train the New England way – on a beach or near pee , using a tedious process involving fire pit , rocks , and seaweed – all of the constituent are thrown into one corporation and steamed together . And Cleveland ’s variation is characteristically hearty : a dozen loot , half a chicken , an auricle of corn , a sweet Solanum tuberosum , rolls and butter , and slaw .
" That ’s been the staple of clambakes forever , " says John C. Young , prexy ofEuclid Fish Company .
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Commercializing the clambake
He would live : his grandpa , chef John J. Comella , helped kickstart the clambake as we now live it in Cleveland by validate the carte and seduce the bakes more approachable and portable through the family unit catering business .
" We feel that my grandfather really said , ' OK , here ’s the clams , half - chicken , auricle of edible corn , sweet Solanum tuberosum , rolls and butter , coleslaw . lease ’s put it all together , ' " Young says . " He love to cook , loved to peach about food , loved to talk about nominate the great unwashed happy through fake food . He did a batch with churches , a lot to civilize . "
By all accounts , Comella developed this passion early . He spent his puerility in San Francisco shadowing his own father , a fisherman and produce dealer . The home eventually go to Cleveland ; unhappily , Comella ’s father pass away when he was 12 . The young man shouldered the responsibility to keep going his crime syndicate during the Depression – first by selling waffle from a wagon , and then by peddling clams and oysters . Interestingly , his " first love " was in reality baseball , Young notes : " [ He ] actually was going to play for the Indians , but could n’t pull it off because his family was totally subordinate on him . "
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For the chef , clambake were a family amour .
In 1944 , Comella opened a marketplace at E. 185th St in Euclid , OH , under the name Chef Comella ’s Fish and Clambake Company . ( This eventually evolved into the Euclid Fish society . ) For the chef , clambakes were a family affair . In fact , Young articulate his uncle ( who ’s also name John ) recollect being at Comella ’s theatre on Hiller Ave in 1944 , " going up and down the steps , husking corn and wash clams " from the basement .
" When I was a kid , it was a real little house , but everything in the planet took position in that basement , " Young says . " Like a lot of Italian families , everything revolves around the basement , cookery , and with food . " Things started progressing outside of the house after World War II ended : Comella journey to Toledo and bought some army surplus aluminum pots , which expedite the growth of the catering business .
At this point , however , the clambake phenomenon was n’t new to Cleveland . In fact , geography , universe , and even our meek autumn weather condition made the realm a innate lieu to have them . " If you think about downslope and the tradition of a clambake , it comes into play with how the production get here in the first topographic point , " Young says .
A feast for the Rockefellers
Back in the day , seafood trip by trains , originating in New York City and move west through Great Lakes cities – Albany , Syracuse , Rochester , Buffalo , Cleveland , and eventually Chicago – where it would be re - iced . During certain geological era , when mollusc such as shekels and oysters arrived in Cleveland , they would often be directed to Lake County , where many of the city ’s elect household had summer home base and would throw party on Little Mountain .
" Guys would bring out moolah and oyster to Rockefellers and all the big - name people in townsfolk , because that ’s what they were looking for during the summertime , " Young say .
Still , nail the exact bit when Cleveland clambakes became a affair is knotty . References to these types of events pop up in thePlain Dealerarchives going back to the 1860s . On October 15th , 1866 , an article titled " Great Clam Bake at Camp Gilbert : A ' prevail news report ' Of It " included everything from guests taking generous doses of cholera medicine in between artillery unit practice to the anonymous author being told a " chronicle of clams and buck bakes , " hinting that the parties were already instill . His finding of fact of the solar day ended with the " steadfast ruling that clam bakes were glorious institutions . "
APlain Dealeraccount of the following 1867 Camp Gilbert spread support this characterization : the composition printed a gluttonous clambake menu featuring a astonishing amount of seafood , meat , vegetables , and a spread of pies for dessert . A July 15th , 1878 , article , meanwhile , references " a grand clam bake " in the works for September at a Euclid Ave house .
His finding of fact of the twenty-four hour period ended with the " firm opinion that clam bakes were glorious institutions . "
In the coming decades , clambake references continued to appear on a regular basis , both in the smart set pages and event listings . ( From the September 25th , 1938,Plain monger : " Lindsay ’s Sky Bar will have a musical dollar bake on Oct. 6 . " ) They became favorites of local company and political figures , as archival photos , papers , and letters at the Western Reserve Historical Society ’s Research Library reveal .
Black - and - white photo see from 1941 , 1945 , and 1949 show employees of the Halle Bros. Co. ( aka the now - defunct department store lovingly known as Halle ’s ) have a elevated old time at a clambake while playing horseshoes or tugboat of state of war , or chowing down on solid food . Posed shots reveal men in clothes shirts look raucous and slightly disheveled , perhaps because some of them were hold what looked to be beers .
In light of such diachronic references , it ’s no wonder that by the time Randall Ruhlman spell his article forThe Clevelander , a monthly magazine publisher put out by the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce , in 1950 , clambakes were popular enough for him to be cheeky about their ubiquity .
" It ’s a mightily important period in our scheme of living . "
" Clam bake season , the period of the expanding belt railway line , has get to an ending for 1950 , " he compose . " It ’s a mighty authoritative period in our dodge of living and it runs concurrently with the corn - on - the - great black-backed gull time of year in these parts … The average man of affairs , trade association member , lodge brother , union member , meatman , bread maker and candlestick maker attend at least two or three clam bakes a season . "
A freestanding letter drop a line a few days after the bake by Jay , Eaton ’s grandson , casually mentioned : " I am pleased to report that Mr. Becker , our only injured party , felt fine the next sidereal day and apparently did not have any serious trouble . It was a great help to have Steve drive him into the hospital . "
A political party
Naturally , clambakes in Cleveland could have their political inclinations , fail by former mayor Ralph J. Perk ’s written document at the WRHS Research Library . In 1967 , the then - Cuyahoga County Auditor had a sizable election deficit from the previous year that he was trying to reduce by holding " card parties and other functions " – for illustration , a clambake . The Friends of Perk Committee post out unvoiced tickets to the bake with a missive referencing how much he still had to raise ( $ 9,887.50 , down from $ 21,000 ) that also touted how Perk was " one of the few public officials in forward-looking prison term who refuses to have a 2 % kick - back fund from his employee to pay his expense . "
The scheme was brilliant : judging by the stack of response from legal philosophy house , savings bank , and individual , many people who regretfully could n’t attend often donated money to Perk ’s cause anyway and also sent back tickets – which could be given away to other masses , especially fourth-year citizens , so they could wait on .
For example , one handwritten bill on letterhead for Mrs. Gilbert W. Humphrey read : " Enclosed are the tickets to the clam bake on September 16th which we will be unable to look . Also enclosed is a check to cover same , as a contribution . Perhaps you will desire to give the come back tickets to some friends of the Republican Party – I trust so ! ! "
harmonize to punctilious records , Perk kept up the clambake for years to come , and turned it into an yearly fundraiser for his various political campaigns . In 1970 , the Friends of Ralph J. Perk Committee send out just the ticket with a not - so - pernicious flake of messaging : " You will show your appreciation to Mr. Perk for his remain devotion to public service and his excellent record as County Auditor by the right way distributing the shut in tickets to your many friends . If you trust more ticket they are uncommitted , and we will take account any extra effort to make this an even greater success than in former year . "
And a 1971 bake in advance of his successful mayoral run was push with a more sanguine jog : " As you know , Ralph Perk is a candidate for mayor of Cleveland this yr , and the support of his friends is greatly require in his campaign to wreak experience and integrity back to this urban center . "
Built for the backyard
Today , Euclid Fish Company honors its founder by proudly sellingChef Comella ’s Original Clambake , complete with a returnable steamer . But Young bed that clambakes are malleable – in fact , this year the society is also offeringthree different seafood boils : Low Country , Portland , and Mid - Atlantic . " People are kind of varying it as mass ’s tastes have shift , " he say . " I look at it as if [ whether ] you ’re go to cook Salmon River or clam : ' OK , what ’s your taste perception ? What do you wish ? ' It ’s a vacuous canvass . Cooking is like graphics . "
Michael Symon has touted a ( tasty)variation on a Cleveland clambake , which features shrimp and kielbasain add-on to moolah . Andy Dombrowski , the embodied chef for Zack Bruell Restaurants , articulate the company did a " passably traditional , straight - up " clambake at Platform Brewery back in August to celebrate the brewery ’s Yammy Yammy beer , but Bruell ’s Alley Cat Oyster Bar is planning a clambake in October which will utilize salmon in improver to the usual seafood offering .
" It ’s all about being with your friends , and all about enjoying food for thought . "
To Dombrowski , the solicitation of clambakes is obvious . " To me , a clambake is more of a backyard matter than necessarily a restaurant thing , " he says . " I think it ’s a time to get together and have a party in the fall , eat and drink , and have a good time with your friend and syndicate . "
It ’s also ideal for a party since cabbage " retain up to being cooked , " he notes . " It ’s not like something like a lobster or mussels or other kinds of mollusc , like shrimp , that if you falsify them and they hang out for 45 mo , they ’re elusive and not very good . Clams are fine – you dip ‘em in butter , and they ’re dear to go . "
At the end of the day , despite the meandering account of clambakes , the appeal is wide-eyed .
" It ’s all about being outside , " Young say . It ’s all about being with your friend , and all about delight food . I think that ’s what my grandfather really believed in . "
Special thanks to the Western Reserve Historical Society ’s Research Library . beginning used in the narrative include MS . 4456 , Ralph J. Perk Papers ; MS . 3913 , Cyrus Eaton Papers ; and PG . 574 Halle Bros. Co. Photographs .
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