New England Clam Chowder
A white, thick, creamy soup where clams meet salt pork, potato, and milk. It is crumbled with salted crackers and eaten as a complete meal, in all weather along the Atlantic coast.
A white, thick, creamy soup where clams meet salt pork, potato, and milk. It is crumbled with salted crackers and eaten as a complete meal, in all weather along the Atlantic coast.
At Hyannis Port, you see, chowder wasn't a dish: it was an institution. When the wind blew in from the sea, my mother would let it simmer slowly, and we'd crumble a handful of small salted crackers on top — never tomato, absolutely not, that's the business of New Yorkers. A good chowder is measured by the spoon: if it stands upright, you're almost there. Believe me, after a day at the helm of a sailboat in the bay, nothing sets you right like a steaming bowl of that.
- •Fresh clams (quahogs) — a good bucket (seafood base, umami)
- •Salt pork — a thick slice (fat and salty base)
- •Potatoes — a few (thickener and body)
- •Onion — one large (aromatic)
- •Whole milk and cream — as needed (creamy white body)
- •Salted crackers (oyster crackers / common crackers) — a handful (thickener and crunch)
- •Butter, pepper, thyme — to taste (seasoning)
New England Clam Chowder
A white, thick, creamy soup where clams meet salt pork, potato, and milk. It is crumbled with salted crackers and eaten as a complete meal, in all weather along the Atlantic coast.
Why this dish? Clam chowder was John Kennedy's favorite dish, a legacy of his childhood on Cape Cod and family summers in Hyannis Port. Served regularly, it was for him a taste of home, simple and comforting, far from formal dinners.
At Hyannis Port, you see, chowder wasn't a dish: it was an institution. When the wind blew in from the sea, my mother would let it simmer slowly, and we'd crumble a handful of small salted crackers on top — never tomato, absolutely not, that's the business of New Yorkers. A good chowder is measured by the spoon: if it stands upright, you're almost there. Believe me, after a day at the helm of a sailboat in the bay, nothing sets you right like a steaming bowl of that.
Ingredients (period version)
- Fresh clams (quahogs) — a good bucket (seafood base, umami)
- Salt pork — a thick slice (fat and salty base)
- Potatoes — a few (thickener and body)
- Onion — one large (aromatic)
- Whole milk and cream — as needed (creamy white body)
- Salted crackers (oyster crackers / common crackers) — a handful (thickener and crunch)
- Butter, pepper, thyme — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Fresh clams (or 250 g clam meat + juice) — 1 kg in shell (seafood base, umami)
- Smoked bacon or salt pork — 100 g (fat and salty base)
- Firm potatoes — 500 g (thickener and body)
- Onion — 1 large (aromatic)
- Whole milk — 500 ml (body)
- Heavy cream — 200 ml (creaminess)
- Butter — 30 g (initial fat)
- Flour — 1 tbsp (light thickener)
- Thyme, bay leaf, pepper — to taste (seasoning)
- Small salted crackers — 1 bowl (for serving)
Method
- Steam the clams open in a little water, remove the meat and strain the juice (reserve carefully).
- Melt the diced salt pork in a pot, add the chopped onion and butter, sweat without browning.
- Sprinkle with flour, stir, then pour in the strained clam juice and enough water to cover the diced potatoes.
- Cook for 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender, add thyme and bay leaf.
- Pour in the milk and cream, heat without boiling, then add the clam meat at the very end to keep it tender.
- Season with pepper, remove the bay leaf, serve very hot with a handful of crumbled crackers on top.
How it was made : Chowder descends from the fishermen's pots of the North Atlantic: salt pork and ship's biscuit (hardtack) kept well aboard, and they added the day's catch of fish or shellfish. In the 19th century, the white, creamy version became established in New England, thickened with common crackers from Vermont.
The contemporary twist : Serve the chowder in a hollowed-out round loaf of rustic bread ("bread bowl"), harbor-style — the crust soaks up the soup and becomes the best part of the meal.
John F. Kennedy · Charactorium