New England Clam Chowder (Clam chowder)

Name: New England Clam Chowder
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 1.5 kg fresh clams or 2 tins chopped clams with juice; 100 g salt pork or bacon, diced; 1 onion, chopped; 2 tbsp flour; 500 g potatoes, diced; 500 ml milk, 200 ml cream; Thyme, bay leaf, oyster crackers

Overview

New England clam chowder is the creamy, comforting soup of the north-east American coast, especially Massachusetts and Maine. Chopped clams, diced potatoes and onion are simmered in the briny liquor released by the shellfish, then enriched with milk and cream. Rendered salt pork or bacon gives a smoky backbone, and a little flour or crushed crackers thickens the broth. It is traditionally served with small oyster crackers for crumbling on top. The style is fiercely defended in the region: tomato-based Manhattan clam chowder is viewed with suspicion, and a 1939 bill in Maine reportedly tried to outlaw tomatoes in chowder. Fresh clams give the best flavour, but tinned clams make a quick weeknight version.

Pictures

History

Chowder arrived in New England with European fishermen and settlers, who cooked layered pots of fish, salt pork and ship's biscuit. The word is often linked to the French chaudière, a cooking pot. Clams, plentiful along the coast, became a favourite filling, and by the nineteenth century clam chowder was firmly established as a regional dish. Herman Melville gave it a memorable scene in Moby-Dick. The creamy New England style was later contrasted with the tomato-based Manhattan version, a rivalry that still amuses locals.

Main ingredients

Clams, potatoes, salt pork or bacon, onion, milk and cream, oyster crackers. The soup is built on milk and clam broth and is usually served hot. Diet: contains meat; not usually gluten-free.

Recipe outline serves 4 · ~55 min

Ingredients

1.5 kg fresh clams or 2 tins chopped clams with juice
100 g salt pork or bacon, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp flour
500 g potatoes, diced
500 ml milk, 200 ml cream
Thyme, bay leaf, oyster crackers

Method

Steam fresh clams in 500 ml water until open, then chop the meat and strain the liquid.
Render the pork in a pot, add the onion and cook until soft, then stir in the flour.
Whisk in the clam liquid, add potatoes, thyme and bay and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes.
Add milk, cream and the clams and heat gently without boiling.
Season with pepper and serve with oyster crackers.

Sources

Clam chowder (Wikipedia)

Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.