Clam Chowder – an example of Northeast U.S. Comfort Food

[GregB0Participant]

The New England region of the United States abounds with recipes that have been handed down for generations and many of those are found throughout the entire region: Boston Baked Beans, Clam Chowder, Crab Cakes, Fish & Chips, Turkey and dressing, just to name a few.

It does not matter which town in New England you visit, order a cup or bowl of Clam Chowder and you will be told “this is the best.”

“Cape Cod” author Joseph C. Lincoln: “A New England clam chowder, made as it should be, is a dish to preach about, to chant praises and sing hymns and burn incense before. To fight for. The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought for—or on—clam chowder; part of it at least, I am sure it was. It is as American as the Stars and Stripes, as patriotic as the national Anthem. It is ‘Yankee Doodle in a kettle.’”

While the Eastern United States lays claim to creating Clam Chowder, clam chowder was introduced by settlers from Canada, France or Britain within the U.S. by the 1700’s. Chowder is defined as “a soup or stew of seafood usually made with milk or tomatoes, salt pork, onions, and other vegetables.”

Historically there are two distinct types, “White” or New England and “Red” or Manhattan which serve as the stock for all other chowders; the West coast has also introduced a clear broth recipe.

“New York Cookbook” author Molly O’Neill explains “Manhattan clam chowder reverberated like an act of sabotage against the New England clam chowder tradition.” She went on to detail the outrage associated with the soup’s creation: “Manhattan clam chowder remained “a notable heresy.” In 1939 a Maine legislator introduced a bill outlawing the use of tomatoes in chowder. In 1940, Eleanor Early, lambasted the “terrible pink mixture” in her book “New England Sampler”. Manhattan clam chowder, she wrote, “is only a vegetable soup and not to be confused with New England Clam Chowder, nor spoken of in the same breath. Tomatoes and clams,” she wrote, “have no more affinity than ice cream and horseradish.””

As a final example of the ubiquity of clam chowder, the St Augustine Florida region calls “Minorcan Clam Chowder” one of its signature dishes. Settlers from the island of Minorca, Spain created this Mediterranean style dish from local ingredients. Made Manhattan-style, the dish included “datil” pepper, indigenous to Cuba and brought to Florida hundreds of years ago. Described as sweet, tart, and spicy, this is a one-of-a-king taste.

​"​My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.​" - Clarence Buddinton Kelland

[Anonymous 6]

I tried some out of a can and it ruined my taste for clam chowder. I need the good stuff. And I wanna get up to New England for a clam bake.

[GregB0Participant]

Anonymous wrote:

I need the good stuff.

There’s nothing like homemade clam chowder and it will re-set your tastebuds for all other chowders. Corn chowder is another favorite for when Fall nights turn a little chilly.

​"​My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.​" - Clarence Buddinton Kelland

[OldBillParticipant]

My “Downeast” maternal grandmother made a chowder which is copied in the family, but never equaled. She referred to it as a milk chowder while using both using milk and cream in it. She also referred to it as a seafood or fish chowder instead of a clam chowder because the contents varied according to whatever she could buy cheaply enough.

In all the years I greedily ate it, I saw seafood as varied as clams, shrimp, haddock, scrod, mussels, lobster, cod, and others all swimming in the broth on various occasions. Vegetables varied too, but potatoes, carrots, and celery were always present. A bay leaf was always part of the chowder and the child who found it in their bowl received a quarter.

Scratch made biscuits always accompanied the chowder. On the rare occasions they weren’t eaten, they were sliced in two and browned face down in a fry pan for breakfast.

There was nothing resembling what we’d think of as a recipe for this chowder. My grandmother had learned it from her grandmother. How much of anything that was used depended on what was available and how many people you needed to feed. A recipe was finally written down when her daughters married and wanted to faithfully recreate the dish.

There was never a recipe for biscuits. She’d just put the flour, butter, and other ingredients into a bowl until it looked “right” and, going by the results, it always was right.

Do not date. Do not impregnate. Do not co-habitate. Above all, do not marry. Reclaim and never again surrender your personal sovereignty.

[Anonymous 42]

Clams wiggle around on bottom, s~~~ sinks to the bottom, heavy metals from industrial waste and nuclear accisents settle there.

I don’t eat clams anymore, they’re loaded with every imaginable waste that sinks to the bottom. Clams can actually be TOXIC in some cases, plus eating shellfish can give you gout. Eating bacon is less harmful than a clam laying in toxic waste.

If you ever saw the Passaic River past Newark and Harrison, NJ in the late 60’s during low tide you would never eat another crab, clam, oyster, or lobster again!

The shoreline of the river back then was bottomless industrial and human sediment, as black as oil and thick as sludge. Oil would bubble up when you threw a large rock into it after the splat. Every kind of industrial waste was dumped in that river from tanneries to machine tool oil waste and solvents. That river was an industrial dumping station for more than 100 years!

[Anonymous 14]

Anonymous wrote:

Clams wiggle around on bottom, s~~~ sinks to the bottom, heavy metals from industrial waste and nuclear accisents settle there.

I have heard the same about crabs, all bottom dwellers really. I haven’t looked into it, but it does make sense, how much of the contaminates are in the meat I have no idea though…

[UntamedParticipant]

Why thank you, Tower. Clam chowder has been my favorite soup for decades but now I will be looking at clam very differently.
Please don’t mention anything about shrimp, lol

Don't let them Blame, Shame or Tame you!
Give 'em NOTHING, not even an answer!
#GenderSegragationNow!

[GregB0Participant]

OldBill wrote:

In all the years I greedily ate it, I saw seafood as varied as clams, shrimp, haddock, scrod, mussels, lobster, cod, and others all swimming in the broth on various occasions. Vegetables varied too, but potatoes, carrots, and celery were always present. A bay leaf was always part of the chowder and the child who found it in their bowl received a quarter.

This is my memory of my Grandmothers “soup/chowder” as well. There was never any left overs when this came off the stove.

​"​My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.​" - Clarence Buddinton Kelland

[GregB0Participant]

Untamed wrote:

Please don’t mention anything about shrimp,

Funny you should mention shrimp Untamed, you’ll see them soon on a forthcoming comfort food thread. 🙂

​"​My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.​" - Clarence Buddinton Kelland

[UntamedParticipant]

GregB0 wrote:

Untamed wrote:

Please don’t mention anything about shrimp,

Funny you should mention shrimp Untamed, you’ll see them soon on a forthcoming comfort food thread.

Nice! Jumbo shrimps are my favorites… until Tower comes along and tells us how disgusting and toxic they may be, lol

Don't let them Blame, Shame or Tame you!
Give 'em NOTHING, not even an answer!
#GenderSegragationNow!

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