I am American-oriented in everything, ever since I was a child, and I promised myself that once I turned 18 I would go to New York.
I went to the Big Apple for the first time at 24, and even today, having seen many other cities in the world, it remains for me The City par excellence, the one and only.
After New York, I returned to the States many times, visiting San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, Miami, Key West, Boston, Washington, San Diego, Puerto Rico, Tallahassee, Cleveland, Buffalo, and I’ve crossed Ohio, Alabama, and other States in fly and drive trips and by train, never being disappointed.
Together with Brazil it is undoubtedly the nation I have returned to the most, and I would go back a thousand more times.
I love the United States and I love its cuisine.
As a great meat consumer, whenever I find myself on American soil, it’s never difficult for me to find a dish that satisfies me, just go for a steak!
Over the years and travels, I have tried many specialties, yet many more await discovery, one of which is the clam chowder with cream, potatoes, and bacon: the Clam Chowder.
The New England clam chowder, or New England Clam Chowder, is a soup widespread in the northeastern United States.
However, it seems to have originated in France (it was the traditional Friday dish among Catholic French because it was fish-based) and, passing through Great Britain, reached the coasts of Canada and then New England thanks to the settlers who landed overseas.
There are several versions, but the following is the typical New England one: white, with potatoes, bacon, and cream, served in bread.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: American
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4 large round loaves
- 3.5 oz bacon
- 1 cup milk
- 2 potatoes
- 2.2 lbs clams
- 2 stalks of celery
- 0.85 cup cream
- 1 onion
- 1.4 oz butter
- to taste flour
- to taste salt and pepper
Preparation
Place clams in salted water for 2 hours to cleanse them of sand.
Cut the 4 large round loaves (preferably sourdough) horizontally to remove the top and hollow out the crumbs.
Cut the bacon into pieces.
Peel the onion and slice it; peel the potatoes, wash them, and cut them into pieces.
Clean the celery stalks of leaves, wash them, and slice them finely.
Place the clams in a saucepan, cover, and open them over high heat (5 minutes); then shell them and filter the liquid they have produced.
Melt the butter in a saucepan using a double boiler, pour it into a pot, add the bacon, and let it brown until crispy, then drain it on kitchen paper.
Pour the prepared onion, celery, and potatoes into the same saucepan, sprinkle the vegetables with 1 tablespoon of flour and let them season for 5 minutes. Add the filtered clam liquid, milk, and cream, and cook for 15/20 minutes, adding a little boiling water if necessary.
Turn off the heat, add the shelled clams, the bacon (saving 1 tablespoon), and distribute the preparation in the empty loaves.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and garnish with the reserved bacon and parsley.
PHOTOS: First time in the United States in New York in December 2004 – January 2005 and the last time in New York in January 2017,
Known and loved by Hermann Melville who describes a tasty Clam Chowder served to the protagonist of Moby Dick in a notorious tavern on the island of Nantucket, amid a landscape of beaches scattered with clam shells.
Immortalized also by Andy Warhol, who chose to depict the Campbell’s can of Clam Chowder, the most famous American canned soup.
There is also a Manhattan Clam Chowder, with tomato sauce, consumed at Coney Island since at least the 1930s: in 1939, the State of Maine decreed that the New York version of Clam Chowder with tomato was a true heresy, declaring it illegal.
Seattle and Portland replace bacon with smoked salmon.
The oldest Clam Chowder is the one from Boston, with milk cream.
It is generally served with soda crackers or small crackers known as “oyster crackers”.
Never read “Moby Dick”?
This might be a good opportunity. You can find a cheap version HERE for €3.12
