Massachusetts Food Contributors

Episode Description | State Plate Seasons

Cathcart Beach | Brian Cullen

Clam Chowder

President and CEO of Yoho Raw Bars & Clambakes, Brian Cullen was working construction when he started holding annual weekend clambakes on the beach of Nantucket. The event grew year after year from a fun party for family, friends and locals to a feast where fresh fish and clam chowder lovers arrived from as far away as Japan, Nicaragua and the Netherlands! Cooking on the beach was a passion, and Brian’s specialty, his wife’s grandmother’s creamy clam chowder, using fresh-shucked clams and home-cured bacon was always a big hit. When people started asking if he had a card, he realized he could turn his passion for the ocean, the beach and cooking into a catering business. Today, he serves fresh fish, lobster, muscles and, of course, his signature clam chowder at all types of events, from upscale parties to family reunions on the beach.

And if you’re wondering what Yoho means, it’s not an acronym for a trendy Nantucket neighborhood. Yoho is said to be an ancient, mythical creature, but these days the name has become synonymous with a particular social culture.

“Yoho has come to mean a breed of people who live close by the sea, collecting and celebrating its bounty and enjoying it in an unconventional but thoroughly joyous manner,” Brian says on his website.

Diggin’ for Clams: How do you know if you dug up a clam or some unidentifiable floating object at the shoreline? Clams should feel like little stones in your rake.

Cape Cod Family Charters | Nick Betti

Fish & Chips | Website

Nick Betti and his father, Bob started Cape Cod Family Charters ten years ago. They fish Cape Cod Bay for striped bass, bluefish, and bluefin tuna, allowing corporate teams, families, groups of friends and others experience the thrill of deep sea fishing.

Now 26 years old, Nick has been fishing Cape Cod Bay since he was a child. At the young age of 15, he started as a mate, and by the time he was 21 he became captain.

The Betti’s fish May through October, but, Nick states, the fishing is fantastic the whole time.

On State Plate, you’ll meet Eric Scherer. Raised on Cape Cod, 53-year-old, mate Eric has been fishing his whole life, for both commercial and charter businesses.

The family owns two boats the smaller, Elisabeth B, and the boat featured on State Plate, the larger Escape, a 35-foot Cabo sport fishing boat that carries up to 6 people.

In addition to their website, Cape Cod Family Charters can be found on Instagram and Facebook.

Fish Tale! What’s the number 1 most sought-after fish around Cape Cod? The Atlantic Cod, of course! You’ll find a carving of the popular fish in the Massachusetts State House along with the motto: “Land of the Sacred Cod.”

Fish Tale 2! The state record for the biggest cod caught is 92 pounds on July 5, 1987

Paula’s home | Paula Marcoux

Boston Baked Beans | Website

A resident of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Paula Marcoux is a food historian and the author of Cooking with Fire, a cookbook that contains 100 recipes that bring out the rich flavors of cooking over a wood fire. She has worked professionally as an archaeologist, cook, and bread-oven builder. She is the food editor of Edible South Shore magazine, writes on food history topics for popular and academic audiences, and consults with museums, film producers, and publishers. She also gives regular workshops on natural leavening, historic baking, and wood-fired cooking.

A Bean Town Tradition – A Sabbath rite among the early Pilgrims and Puritans held that they should not work or cook hot meals on Sundays. Some clever settler devised a way around the rule, that still allowed them to be observant: Cook baked beans on Saturday, and leave it overnight in a hot brick oven. On Sunday they could enjoy a hot meal. Right up until the early 1900s (some say till the 1930s), baked beans and brown bread was a Sunday tradition.

Bluemoon Bagels Cafe | Daniel Freedman

Bulkie Rolls | Website

Daniel Freedman is a 4th generation master baker and the owner of Blue Moon Bagel Café. Dan began his career at age 11 at Green Freedman’s on Harrison Avenue in Boston where he worked with some of the area’s top Eastern European bakers.

Freedman attended baking school at the prestigious Dunwoody Institute of Minneapolis where he graduated with honors as well as a master’s course in baking technique from the San Francisco School of Sourdough Baking.

He went on to open the award-winning Freedman’s Bakery of Brookline and Boston. At the time, Freedman’s of Boston, located in Quincy Market was the highest grossing store (per square foot) in the entire United States.

After more than 35 years of baking, Daniel has developed a unique style of integrated old world techniques mixed with modern technology and methods. He has won numerous awards by various publications, including “Best Cookie” (almond macaroon), “Best Bagel,” and “Best Challah.”

His current Bakery, Blue Moon Bagel Cafe, of Medfield, Massachusetts has served the community for over 20 years, and delights its customers daily with its artisan bread, fresh bagels, and fan favorite items including the Power Booster Cookie, and the original Gilchrist Almond Macaroon made famous from Boston’s Gilchrist department store.

On a Roll! The Bulkie Roll is often compared to the Kaiser roll! But do not confuse the two, especially in Massachusetts! Bulkies are slightly crisp on top with bread that’s not chewy, sweet, yellow or egg-flavored. Kaisers are much sweeter.

Omni Parker House | Lori Gately

Boston Cream Pie | Website

The original Boston Cream Pie (then called a Chocolate Cream Pie) made its spectacular debut as a dessert created especially for guests at the prestigious Parker House Hotel in Boston. The inspiration for the pie dates back to colonial days, and was sometimes referred to as a Pudding-Cake Pie, which itself, may have had its beginnings in Britain.

Around 1855, Parker House chef, Monsieur Sanzian, began playing with the recipe, adding chocolate frosting on top and almond slivers around the side, and the “pie” became his masterpiece, and a part of history. Like then, today’s Boston Cream Pie is more cake than pie, but M. Sanzian’s recipe remains the same. Nobody dares alter this delectable delight, even over 160 years later.

A Pie in the Eye of the Competition! Not surprisingly, Boston Cream Pie is the official Massachusetts state dessert. But which sweets did it knock out of the game? Toll House Cookies…and Fig Newtons!