Clam chowder
Clam Chowder is an internationally known American clam soup made from large clams (called quahogs or clam). This type of shell occurs on the American east coast. The creamy consistency of the soup, which resembles a stew, is typical .
history
The origin of this mussel soup and of chowder in general is said to be in France; the soup is said to have been brought to New England and Nova Scotia by French sailors in the 17th or 18th centuries . Instead of cream, milk was initially used and, to thicken, ship rusks .
preparation
The soup is made from clams, bacon or cured pork , diced potatoes, onions, other vegetables, herbs such as dill and thyme and spices. According to an old recipe, the ingredients are put into the pot alternately in layers, with each layer being seasoned separately. Then the whole thing is topped up with water or broth and slowly simmered. Clam Chowder is also available as frozen and canned food.
variants
Over time, two different recipes have developed in the USA: The older version from New England, which is bound with cream, and which are often served with the so-called oyster crackers (similar to the ship's biscuits).
A more recent variation with tomato juice is called Manhattan Clam Chowder because it is said to have appeared in New York in the 19th century . In the middle of the 19th century, Italians living in New York made tomatoes popular as an ingredient in the kitchen. At the end of the 19th century, two chefs published cookbooks with recipes for clam chowder with tomatoes, Alessandro Filippini and Charles Ranhofer, who both worked for a time at Delmonico's restaurant in New York. Since many of the dishes in this restaurant were adopted by others, historians suspect the origin of the Manhattan version here.
New England purists still dismiss tomatoes in this soup as inappropriate. The prominent chef James Beard (1903–1985) wrote: "(...) this rather terrible soup, called Manhattan Clam Chowder (...) resembles a vegetable soup that accidentally dropped a few clams into."
literature
- Food lexicon from Dr. Oetker, article Clam Chowder , p. 158
- Bernard Clayton Jr .: Complete Book of Soups and Stews , p. 119
- my New York Kochbuch, Whats cooking, James Rizzi and Peter Bührer, Mary Hahn Verlag, 1996 ISBN 3-87287-432-2 , page 116
